What a relief that climate change doesn't really exist
As we've sweltered through this terrible summer - and lately, as bushfires have raged - what a comfort it's been to know that climate change doesn't exist and isn't happening.
Ross Gittins is economics editor of the SMH and an economic columnist for The Age. His books include Gittins' Guide to Economics, Gittinomics and The Happy Economist.
As we've sweltered through this terrible summer - and lately, as bushfires have raged - what a comfort it's been to know that climate change doesn't exist and isn't happening.
How moving it was to watch Malcolm TurnbullĀ presentingĀ the Australian of the Year awards last week. What impressive people they were. Made me proud to be an Aussie.
Of the loads of films I saw last year, the most memorable was Ken Loach's I, Daniel Blake. I go to the movies for escapist entertainment, not to give my emotions a good workout but, even so, it left a lasting impression.
I don't know about you, but it's at this time of year, when the Christmas rush is over and things slow down - even for those who are "working through" - that I get a bit more philosophical, a bit more reflective.
There is no good reason any sovereign Australian government ā federal or state ā should allow a few American for-profit businesses to dictate how much it should or shouldn't borrow (nor engage in hugely expensive ways of disguising the true extent of its liabilities).
Don't believe anything any politician says about the mid-year budget up-date and the expected further deterioration in the budget deficit.
It's our community and our economy and prime ministers don't get to dismiss options without us even being allowed to think about them and decide what we prefer.
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.
Not a lot's happened in the economy this year. We're still adjusting to life after the resources boom.
Not long after he arrived at Sydney Cove as a convict on the First Fleet, James Ruse was granted Australia's first parcel of private land - 30 acres in the heart of Parramatta - by governor Arthur Phillip.
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