MBS Media coverage

How long to settle the debt?

ABC 612 Brisbane , 06 May 2009
Presenter Madonna King interviews Melbourne Business School’s Associate Professor Mark Crosby. She asks how long the Federal Government debt will take to pay off assuming it does not go higher than $70 billion dollars. Professor Crosby says that the rumour is that the deficit will last for five or six years, so it wont be paid off any time soon, and adds that the real question is not what this years' Budget deficit is, but what the next one will be.

Repair is taking place

ABC2 News Breakfast, 06 May 2009
Financial review with Melbourne Business School’s Prof Paul Kerin who speaks about Ben Bernanke's comments that repair is taking place in the US financial system. Prof Kerin says the Reserve Bank's statement has been positive, and that Treasurer Wayne Swan claims reinforced the view that the deficit will last longer than previously expected.

Inconspicuous Consumption

AFR Life & Luxury Magazine, pg 42, 01 May 2009
Rumours of the death of luxury have been greatly exaggerated, but consumption styles are changing dramatically as part of what some see as a broader shift in values. Obviously, those directly affected by the financial crisis, who have lost their jobs or discovered these is no such thing as good debt when equity values are sliced in half, can no longer spend like they used to. What’s more interesting is whether those who have not been directly affected are re-evaluating consuming, says Brian Gibbs, principal fellow, marketing and behavioural science at Melbourne Business School.

Financial review with Dr Sam Wylie

ABC2 News Breakfast, 30 April 2009
Dr Sam Wylie, Research Fellow, Melbourne Business School, participates in his regular ABC2 Financial Review. Today he speaks about the shrinking US GDP figures and says recessions driven by financial crises do not recover quickly. He also comments on US President Obama’s managing of the economy.

Vale Pratt, industrialist undaunted

Australian Financial Review, pg 60, 30 April 2009
This article discusses the late Richard Pratt’s accomplishments, paying attention to both his business enterprises and philanthropic activities. Acquaintances and academics, including Melbourne Business School’s Amanda Sinclair, comment on his management style and achievements.

A road to ruin

The Sunday Age, pg 12, 26 April 2009
Journalist David Potts reports that BrisConnections has exposed dangerous cracks in the system for protecting investors. “It’s annoying that ASIC looks after corporate clients,’ says Sam Wylie, senior fellow of the Melbourne Business School. “It started investigating aggressive short selling the same day the accusation was made by Macquarie. It doesn’t show that level of bulldog determination when it comes to household investors.”

The last stand

AFR Magazine, pg 22, 24 April 2009
The impending departure of Rupert Murdoch’s right-hand man is widely viewed as signaling a denouement of the quietly stewing succession wars of News Corp. This article discusses the history of the Murdoch empire and its possible future. “There is a hint of menace about News that both appeals and repels; more Darth Vader than the Teletubbies,” said News Ltd chief John Hartigan in an address to Melbourne Business School alumni last March

Stepping up to the mark

My Business, pg 42, 23 April 2009
Economist Tim Harcourt discusses India’s importance to Australian business. “The Chennai seminar emphasised the importance of education and the importance of India to the future of higher education in Australia (a point made passionately by the Melbourne Business School's Professor Ian Harper at the seminar).

Don't devalue the insight

John Armstrong, The Australian, pg 38, 22 April 2009
Conventional takes on the humanities tend to miss the point, writes MBS Philosopher-in-residence John Armstrong. The question "What are the humanities for?" needn't be asked in a voice that insinuates the true answer is a humiliating admission: "Not much, really." It can and should be asked with a sincere desire for illumination. Our overview of what the humanities are for will have serious implications for how they are studied, how they are funded and how their success or failure is assessed.

Book Review - Parentonomics

Financial Times, 20 April 2009
MBS Professor Joshua Gans' book 'Parentonomics' is reviewed by the Financial Times: “The obvious question is whether this is supposed to be good advice or some kind of joke. There is no ambiguity in Parentonomics: Gans is not joking. Thankfully, he can be very funny. Although he is an academic – a professor at Melbourne Business School – his writing has a professional snap…” Read the full article.

The broadband betrayal revealed

Paul Kerin, The Australian, 15 April 2009
The Rudd Government has broken its own rules of transparency, writes MBS Professor Paul Kerin. Read the full article.

Broadband plan dissected

Radion National, 14 April 2009
MBS Professor Joshua Gans participates in a panel discussing the Federal Government’s Broadband Plan. The panel examines the initial failed private tender process for the broadband network, outlining the alternative public/private partnership that has been established in its place. They discuss the potential for private investment in the scheme and alternatives to fixed-line broadband are discussed. Read the full article.

Short, sharp and to the point

Human Resources Leader, pg 24, 14 April 2009
Executive education programs expose groups of managers to targeted academic and practical management education. This article discovers why, even in tough times, spending in this area of learning is under no threat. The article discusses the experiences McDonald’s and Melbourne Water had working with Mt Eliza Executive Education to create staff development programs.

The Getting of Wisdom

The Age, pg 8, 13 April 2009
On Thursday 5 March, the well appointed meeting rooms of Mt Eliza Executive Education played host to a new kind of conversation. Working with small groups two PhD candidates and a recent graduate explored a topic all too frequently overlooked in the conventional study of leadership. That topic was wisdom.

Fiddling with the rules destroys market confidence

Paul Kerin, The Australian, 13 April 2009
Government pressures to weaken accounting rules and prudential requirements are no way to promote economic recovery. They'll do the opposite. As George Santayana said, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Read the full article.

Cable Guy

The Weekend Australian , pg 15, 11 April 2009
The grand plan to enable superfast broadband for everyone is missing some links. Paul Kerin, a professorial fellow at the Melbourne Business School maintains that the Government could have achieved the same objective of 100 megabits a second much more quickly and cheaply by encouraging investment in the rapidly developing alternative broadband technologies.

Interest rates tipped to drop below 2pc as job gloom grows

The West Australian, pg 4, 11 April 2009
The big lift in unemployment has raised fears about the social fallout with Melbourne Business School academic Catherine de Fontenay, an expert on crime in relation to the economy, saying there was a close link between unemployment and crime.

What I’m working on

AFR Boss Magazine, pg 53, 09 April 2009
Isabel Metz, senior lecturer at Melbourne Business School discusses her research. The research evaluates the experience of more than 400 HR managers or “toxin handlers”. Toxin handlers are organisational members who help colleagues manage negative emotions in the workplace.

Who will pass along rate cuts?

Radio National, 08 April 2009
All four major Australian banks are ignoring pressure from the Federal Government and customers, declaring they won't fully pass on the Reserve Bank's interest rate cut. Westpac, ANZ, and the Commonwealth Bank will drop their standard variables rates by just 10 basis points. Meanwhile, the NAB is not passing on any of the rate cut. Joshua Gans from Melbourne Business School, says the lack of competition has both and upside and a downside.

Regional Australia left out in the cold?

ABC New England , 08 April 2009
MBS professor Joshua Gans speaks about the Federal Government’s National Broadband network plan. He comments about the coverage that will be provided to areas of regional Australia amid concerns that many areas will be excluded from the 'Fibre to the Home' plan. Professor Gans says regional Australia won't be worse off under the plan given that the former plan was 'stuck in the middle'.