MBS Media coverage

After the merger frenzy, banking behemoths rule

Sydney Morning Herald, pg 19, 06 October 2008
Vast banks now being created will make life difficult for regulators, writes Eric Johnston. A recurring theme for these mergers is that some banks are "too big to fail", says Joshua Gans, a director for the Centre for Ideas and the Economy at the Melbourne Business School. But some banks are now too big for US or European regulators to bail out - yet the failure of one would set off the equivalent of an atomic bomb throughout the world's financial systems.

Disaster claims are exaggerated.

Paul Kerin, The Australian, pg 21, 06 October 2008
Crisis what crisis? Financial turbulence spawns outrageous claims. Apparently, both capitalism and free market economics are "dead" and depression is imminent, writes MBS Professor Paul Kerin.

MBS taps UK virtual centre

The Australian Financial Review, pg 37, 06 October 2008
Melbourne Business School has partnered Ashridge Business School in the United Kingdom to enrich its executive education programs with virtual learning modules, as it caters to the needs of time-poor company leaders

Parental leave: PC proposals fall short

Joshua Gans, The Age, pg 6, 06 October 2008
The Productivity Commision’s recommendations could have gone much further, writes MBS Professor Joshua Gans

Schools mean business in China

The Australian Financial Review, pg 33, 06 October 2008
Australian business schools are targeting the Chinese thirst for competitive advantage and plan to significantly boost the delivery of short courses and customised corporate programs for executives working in the world’s economic hotspot next year. Paul Kirkbride, Deputy Dean of Mt Eliza Executive Education comments on plans to expand into China.

Active or passive is Paulson’s big choice

Sam Wylie, The Australian Financial Review, pg 62, 04 October 2008
In the two days following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers $US280 billion was withdrawn from US mutual funds, Merrill Lynch was sold, American International Group collapsed and Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs transformed themselves into commercial banks, prompting Ben Bernanke and US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's push for the Emergency Economic Stabilisation Act, which enables the creation of a Troubled Asset Relief Program, writes MBS Professor Sam Wylie

Do CEO contracts need to contract?

The Age, pg 5, 04 October 2008
Time to institute a ‘Biggest Loser’ for executives before the measures no longer reach, writes Vanessa O’Shaughnessy. "In principle, the market should set executive salaries and they ought to be linked to the organisation's performance," says Melbourne Business School senior lecturer Isabel Metz, a specialist in organizational behaviour. "I'm very nervous about legislation with regard to salaries, whether executive salaries or anyone else's."

Financial mayhem puts the brakes on climate change program

The Australian Financial Review, pg 38, 04 October 2008
The Climate Institute's chief executive John Connor is aware that business is going to use the financial crisis as the latest excuse to slow any response to climate change, and MBS Professor Joshua Gans also says that no matter what the long-term economics of the changes required, these will act as a tax on the economy at the moment.

Survival of the fattest in world of mega banks

The Age, pg 1, 04 October 2008
As financial institutions struggle to stay solvent, mergers and shotgun weddings are laying the groundwork for a new world order. A recurring theme for these mergers is that some banks are "too big to fail", says Joshua Gans, a director for the Centre for Ideas and the Economy at Melbourne Business School. That is, they are now too big for US or European regulators to bail out - yet the failure of one would set off the equivalent of an atomic bomb throughout the world's financial systems.

It’s survival of the fittest in jobs jungle

The Australian Financial Review, pg 1, 03 October 2008
MBS Professor Ian O. Williamson comments on the use of psychometric testing in the recruitment process. He notes that research has proven that there are ‘numerous tools that are far more effective than a typical unstructured interview’.

Explaining the rescue package

ABC 774 afternoons , 02 October 2008
Prof Ian Harper, Executive Director, Centre for Business and Public Policy, Melbourne Business School, talks about the rescue package. He explains that bad loans had been made against mortgages or houses the prices of which have fallen and says they were lending for housing to people who are unlikely to be able to repay the loan. He comments that it 'sounds in principle like an irresponsible thing to do', but that they expected the prices to rise.

Keep non-bank lenders afloat

Joshua Gans, The Australian, 02 October 2008
MBS Professor Joshua Gans and Chris Joye, Chief Executive of Rismark International, write on the importance of the Australian Government developing an explicit policy regime to regulate the participants in, and protect the liquidity of, the AAA-rated mortgage-backed securities market. Read the full article.

Professional expertise applied to parenting techniques

Lavatus Prodeo , 02 October 2008
Blog, Lavatus Prodeo reviews MBS Professor Joshua Gans’ new book Parentonomics. “Usefully, (Gans) brings a skeptical, analytical eye to some of the tenets of parenting. But, more than that, it’s a chance to see how an economist, and one for whom a major interest is game theory, views a part of the world that’s familiar to most people”. Read the full article.

The bail-out

ABC 774 Conversation Hour , 02 October 2008
Host Kathy Bedford discusses the US financial bail-out. MBS Professor Ian Harper explains what led to the current crisis and how the bail-out may rectify the situation.

Meltdown hurts climate for a change

Joshua Gans, The Age, pg 10, 01 October 2008
As a global recession looms, the hopes for dealing with climate change diminish, writes MBS Professor Joshua Gans.

The top five things to know about the Wall St. crisis

Triple J Hack , 01 October 2008
Melbourne Business School’s Mark Crosby speaks to HACK reporter Michael Atkin about the global financial crisis and discusses what it means for Australians.

Made to measure

Human Resources , pg 16, 30 September 2008
Executive education is designed for time-poor executives. A growing number of organisations have moved towards tailored programs that allow participants to focus on leadership issues that are specific to their industry, organisation and even individual circumstances. Seek’s Meahan Callaghan discusses partnering with Mt Eliza Executive Education, a part of Melbourne Business School to deliver executive education.

Bad news spells good times for MBAs

The Australian Financial Review, pg 34, 29 September 2008
Financial jitters could work in favour of business schools as renewed interest in master of business administration studies heralds a strong 2009 admissions year. The theory that individuals turn to MBAs to boost their credentials when an economy wavers is looking promising for business deans. Melbourne Business School has received 242 applications for the January 2009 intake into its full-time MBA program and expects that number to rise by 20% by the application closing date.

$4b plan may lop $80 off monthly mortgage

The Sunday Age, pg 1, 29 September 2008
Homebuyers could save up to $80 a month on their mortgages under the Federal Government’s $4 billion plan to boost competition in the lending market – but it could take months for the benefits to flow through to household budgets. The idea for Treasury to become an investor in the mortgage sector to provide extra cash for lending has been linked to a paper released in March by Joshua Gans, professor of economics at Melbourne Business School, and Christopher Joye, the head of Rismark International.

Fed action spurs moral hazard

Mark Crosby, The Australian Financial Review, pg 63, 29 September 2008
The U.S rescue package is sowing the seeds for the next financial meltdown writes MBS Professor, Mark Crosby.