The copyright protection racket has to come to an end
Imagine a land in which everything was outlawed, except for the things that were specifically allowed. Things would more-or-less work, until you tried something new.
The Economy
Future of the $100 note up for grabs as government targets cash
The Turnbull government is to consider a ban on the $100 note and a crackdown on all but small cash payments as part of an assault on the cash economy to be unveiled in Monday's mid-year budget update.
Australian consumers spooked by poor GDP
A measure of Australia's consumer sentiment slipped to an eight-month low in December after disappointing data on the domestic economy shook confidence in the outlook for the year ahead.
Convert the 'disbelievers': ASX 200 ends 2016 with 15 boards with no women
The year will end with 15 boards in the ASX 200 with no women on it.
'Victims of our own success': NSW's $11b GST hole
By 2019-20, residents in NSW will pay $23.7 billion in GST and get back just $17.8 billion.
Why NSW is losing billions
There's a big downside to NSW's economic success.
Business conditions lowest in 19 months
Business conditions have fallen to their lowest level in 19 months and consumer confidence has plunged.
ATO needs to be quicker to apologise for errors: review
Australia does not need a taxpayer bill of rights, a review has found, but the Tax Office must take greater steps to educate the public about their rights and apologise when it makes errors.
'Get stuffed': Trump's likely message to us taxing US multinationals
Australia may have tougher laws aimed at recouping more tax from multinationals, but that won't stop the incoming US President Donald Trump to tell us to "get stuffed" in the fight for more revenue, a KPMG tax expert says.
Australia must move forward to prevent gridlock
Imagine the task of building a city the size of Canberra every year, for the rest of this century. Or, how about creating a new city the population of Melbourne every decade?
Politicised Treasury bites own tail, covers for Turnbull
Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen is right: One of the Abbott-Turnbull government's various acts of economic vandalism is its politicisation of the once-proud federal Treasury.
GDP: Short for Generally Dubious Puffery?
GDP might well be the least bad of all the flawed ways in which we can measure the health of our economy. But it's far from perfect, especially if you're aiming to capture the impact of the economy on people.
Showdown between ATO and big business looms as list of company tax paid is revealed
A showdown between the Australian Taxation Office and the nation's largest companies including Chevron, Crown and BHP Billiton is looming as the tax man hit seven large companies with tax bills amounting to $2 billion in revenue.
Recession? Look out your window
What would economic race-calling be without its little excitements? As you may possibly have heard, this week's news is that the economy has contracted - shrunk, gone backwards - by 0.5 per cent.
You win some, you lose some: retailers struggle while agriculture booms
Fairfax Media spoke to business owners across five industries to find out who the year's economic winners and losers have been.
Bermuda tops list of world's top tax havens
More than $4 billion in Australian tax is being shifted by Australian-based multinationals into the world's 15 worst corporate "tax havens" each year, Oxfam says.
Labor attacks 'treasury' report discrediting economic stimulus
Labor has questioned the bona fides of a report apparently commissioned by the Treasury that plays down the role of big government spending in helping Australia survive global financial crisis.
The 'wake-up call' that's been ringing for years
Treasurer Morrison labelled this week's surprisingly low September quarter GDP number as a "wake-up call". What he didn't say is that it's a call that's been ringing for three years.
America will never be 'great again' without migrants
By turning his back on migrants is counter to the trends of immigration that actually realised his election mantra of "making America great again."
Wider trade gap adds to economy's worries
A surprise blow-out in the October trade deficit has raised questions about the predicted rebound in economic growth, following the third-quarter contraction.
Apple-EU case didn't end secret 'sweetheart' tax deals
If you thought that the European Union coming down hard on tech-giant Apple was the end of secret tax deals, you're wrong.
'Her role on the project was just to be an ornament'
"He effectively told her her role on the project was just to be an ornament."
Recession? We're not even close
The Treasury and the Reserve Bank are likely to 'look through' the reported numbers to focus on what's happening beneath them.
GDP dive more than a 'wake-up call', says Treasurer Morrison
Treasurer Scott Morrison has branded the dramatic end to five continuous years of economic growth "not just a reminder, not just a wake-up call, but a demand to support economic policies that drive investment and jobs".
Trump is the biggest risk for growth
Companies see Donald Trump as both the biggest upside and downside risk to global growth in 2017.
'Wake-up call for Canberra': brace for negative growth
Brace for the first quarter of negative economic growth in five years, and only the fourth in Australia's enviable run of 100 quarters without a recession.
Experts think economy has gone backwards
Financial market analysts believe the economy went backwards immediately after the July election, ending 5 years of continuous growth and calling into question the government's repeated promise to "deliver jobs and growth".
Why I'm a pathological optimist, despite my job
Last week in front of 1400 people at a Fairfax Media subscriber event I was outed as a "pathological optimist" by an anonymous reader, who wanted to know how I got that way.
Yes women want to be CEOs, even when they have children
Women and men are not always supported in their desire for work flexibility. There's stigmas, and much resistance.
RBA holds rates amid fears of negative growth
The RBA kept its cash rate on hold in the lead-up to Christmas, playing down concerns over sliding business investment and a likely collapse in economic growth to keep the rate at 1.5 per cent.
Small Business
How he raised $2.5 million without giving up his vision
Not all capital is created equal.
How small business is leading the booze delivery game
Home delivered booze is a threat the big players haven't quite yet caught up with.