EDITORS' PICKS

Fiddling while currency burns
Alan Kohler
No one should be surprised that the IMF is making no progress in ending the currency wars. However, the US corporations making the most of the low yuan should be more worried than they appear to be.

Sydney's other China crisis
Robert Gottliebsen
Some of the price falls in Sydney's apartment market stem from the China-US currency war and are beyond our control. But there is a second reason for the fall that did not have to happen.

India's currency curse
Robert Gottliebsen
In the currency war unfolding between the US and China, India's manufacturing sector is caught in the cross-fire. With 24 million jobs on the line, India will have to act soon.

Truth in Warwick's warning
Stephen Bartholomeusz
With the economy operating close to capacity and policy settings still designed for conditions that were expected to be radically worse, the government should take note of the Reserve Bank board member's warning.

Samuel's NBN cost-benefit noise
Stephen Bartholomeusz
Like many others, the ACCC boss sees the NBN as able to deliver immeasurable benefits. However, the reality is broadband isn't a new phenomenon and the NBN's success can and should be estimated.

The divisive economics of the Nobel
Karen Maley
Amid high global unemployment, it is fitting that this year's Nobel Prize for Economics was given to labour market academics. But the history of this controversial award carries an important economic lesson for us all.

Seven years of abysmal returns
Karen Maley
Investors may be celebrating the surge in US share prices, but a veteran market watcher says the incredibly low yields on offer point to virtually no growth for years to come.

Labor's problem with alcohol
Rob Burgess
The biofuel deal eked out between Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and the Labor Party prior to forming a government could become an explosive problem for the Gillard government.

A better driver for board diversity
Natasha Stott Despoja
When it comes to the number of women on company boards, corporate Australia knows it has dragged its feet. But perhaps just the threat of quotas is enough to get things moving.

Property's safer income outcome
Steve Keen
If we based the size of a home loan on the property's capacity to generate income, rather than the income of the buyer, we would forge a stronger link between asset prices and incomes.

America's warpath to Depression
Oliver Marc Hartwich
As the currency war starts to resemble the events of the 1930s, let's hope that it's not too late to avoid a replay of the catastrophic consequences of the Great Depression.