Public Opinion"...public opinion deserves to be respected as well as despised" G.W.F. Hegel, 'Philosophy of Right'Reserve Bank refocuses, somewhat- August 11, 2008 The Reserve Bank's narrative over the last year has been a simple one. Inflation needed to be squeezed by slowing economic growth. there was too much growth and too much inflation. So to slow the economy, it lifted rates four times in seven months, in an economy already heavily loaded with debt. In doing so it downplayed the US credit crisis caused by the masters of the universe and the way that the crisis kept getting deeper. The narrative said that Chinese demand for Australian...http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2008/08/reserve-bank.php Bradley Review of Higher Education- August 11, 2008 The Rudd Government has promised an education revolution but, as it is still not clear what this involves, the Government looks a bit tacky and hesitant. "Revolution" sounds over the top and what has been delivered on other issues so far is a quite different from what has been promised. The look is one of spin heavy and substance light: Leak What would an "education revolution" in the higher education sector look like Greater deregulation Removal of perverse funding incentives One of the.http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2008/08/bradley-review.php China: the new global power- August 10, 2008 The Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics successfully expressed China's arrival of the global stage as a global power. The new China made its presence felt with grandeur that is the Olympic movement's parodic symbol of excess.The excess ($40 billion of public expenditure) signified that China has successfully modernized from being a backward power a century ago. But the rules of the game of global power are set by the West and they have been changed in the last couple of decades....http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2008/08/china-the-new-g.php corporate medicine- August 8, 2008 One of the changes in primary care is the rise of corporate medicine over the last 10 years. The corporates hoped that by setting up medical centres with GPs, pathology and radiology facilities and sometimes allied health-care workers, these would make money from a process of internal cross-referrals. GPs would refer their patients for pathology tests and X-rays to the in-house facilities, and some referrals could also flow the other way. For these medical centres to work, the corporates...http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2008/08/corporate-medic.php business as usual- August 7, 2008 At last the Australian's We Heart Costello push seems to be petering out. Content on the topic has dwindled from saturation to Dennis Shanahan prevaricating over the thing with a gesture each way. On one hand, Pete will take the job if it's offered nicely, or he'll challenge anyone who challenges Brendan (read Malcolm), but on the other hand, the only gossip to report is that Pete's no more interested now than he's ever been. Darn. And it was all looking so promising a few days ago. Graham...http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2008/08/business-as-usu.php |