China still wants to see a “managed depreciation” in the CNY exchange rate?
Jun 07, 2016 12:34 pm UTC| Insights & Views
Recent movement of CNY exchange rate seemingly points to PBoCs tactics. Historic data shows that the CNY has depreciated by more than 4.5% YTD against a basket of currencies and the USD-CNY fixing rates in the past few...
What actions do we forget and why?
Jun 07, 2016 10:32 am UTC| Insights & Views Life
In a 1997 U.S. News and World Report survey, 1,000 Americans were asked the following question: Who do you think is most likely to get into heaven? According to respondents, then-president Bill Clinton had a 52 percent...
Lockout laws repeat centuries-old mistake of denying value of cities as messy places
Jun 07, 2016 09:29 am UTC| Insights & Views Law
Sydneys lockout laws, as well as current and proposed restrictions in other Australian cities including Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Newcastle, are perhaps more about regulating peoples behaviours in cities than about...
Safety – or profit? The booming business of CCTV and Safer Streets
Jun 07, 2016 09:24 am UTC| Insights & Views Business
Closed circuit street cameras have been sold to the community as a way of making us safer, reducing crime and discouraging anti-social behaviour. But research into the Federal Governments $50 million Safer Streets program...
Is crime getting worse in Australia?
Jun 07, 2016 09:15 am UTC| Insights & Views Law
Ive spoken to a lot of Australians who dont believe they are safe on the streets anymore… Weve had bombs and stabbings, it is happening. You see murders every night on our TV. The situation is growing worse and I...
Modern slave trade: how to count a 'hidden' population of 46 million
Jun 07, 2016 09:07 am UTC| Insights & Views Life
In 1860, just before the outbreak of the American Civil War, the United States carried out a national census. One result was the very precise count of 3,953,761 slaves in the country, amounting to 12.6% of the total...
Australian media deals with China – blind spot, or troubling hypocrisy?
Jun 07, 2016 09:00 am UTC| Insights & Views
On a Saturday morning two weeks ago while browsing WeChat, I saw an announcement of the signing of a memorandum between the Australia-China Relations Institute and Xinhua, Chinas official news agency. Intrigued, I searched...
South Africa’s plan to move away from coal: 8 steps to make it succeed
Germany lowers voting age to 16 for the European elections
IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects