Why we can't do without cash
A cashless society sounds cool. But notes in the pocket impose discipline on opaquely regulated and dominating service providers.
Letters: Yallourn, cryptocurrencies and vaccines
AFR readers' Letters to the Editor, Tuesday January 16, 2018.
Banks battle big tech to lure top MBAs
Finance once was the most popular career choice for MBA graduates but it has been replaced by consulting and marketing roles while Big Tech vacuums up the talent.
Ashok Jacob backs JB Hi-Fi against Amazon
JB Hi-Fi is at the centre of a classic confrontation between powerful short sellers targeting overpriced stocks and a value investor convinced the electronics retailer is fundamentally mispriced.
World of democracy is far from over
Even in a new global generation of strongman autocrats, the ability of democracy to renew itself comes out on top
US and China's reluctant embrace will be hard to end
Even a looming trade war does not change the economic fundamentals that keep the US and China in co-dependency.
Three reasons the great bond market turn may be delayed
A rising trend in bond yields and inflation would be big news but it is not yet a done deal.
Why oil stocks won't join in the rally
With the oil price hitting fresh three-year highs, it's scarcely surprising that investors have rediscovered a taste for black gold.
We can't let cynics ruin university
Liberals and conservatives have little in common, but they agree on this: Campuses have replaced learning with indoctrination.
Featured Opinion
philip baker
Boom times for business despite all the problems
The latest NAB survey shows that business has got it good right now, which is at odds with how most consumers feel.
tony boyd
Ashok Jacob backs JB Hi-Fi against Amazon
JB Hi-Fi is at the centre of a classic confrontation between powerful short sellers targeting overpriced stocks and a value investor convinced the electronics retailer is fundamentally mispriced.
phillip coorey
Can PM turn a sunny economy into votes?
Economic confidence is returning. Labor's internal discipline is cracking. And soon Malcolm Turnbull will be thinking election dates.
adele ferguson
Showdown looms over life insurance code
A new code to cover life insurance in super funds could trigger government intervention and a savage backlash from the consumer movement.
jennifer hewett
Fizzy water is almost as good as champagne
Today happens to be my first day back at work. It's also the first day of my diet and the inevitable New Year's resolution to lose weight. Really this time.
jonathan shapiro
Don't count out non-bank lenders just yet
The big banks are being forced to tighten lending standards, limit investor loans and are responding to higher capital requirements by jacking up rates. But what does their response mean for the non-bank lenders, borrowers and for the financial system ?
michael smith
The best stories CEOs have told me
Alan Joyce's lowest point was when a Jack Russell terrier started biting his ankles during a live television cross while he was being abused by the dog's owner.
matthew stevens
Orica's digital drive to 21st century blasting
Alberto Calderon sees 2017 as a year of inflection for the global mining industry and Orica.
laura tingle
Let 2018 be the year pollies focus on people who care
If you are going into 2018 angry about politics, keep in mind just who it is that politicians have been trying to appeal to all these years
christopher joye
House prices to slide in 2018 despite jobs boom
After forecasting house price rises every year since 2013, I'm happy to double-down on our April 2017 call that the boom is over.
