Australia 2010 : towards a seamless national economy [online]
Authors: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

"Presents a general picture, set within a macroeconomic context, of regulatory achievements and challenges, including regulatory quality at the Commonwealth level as well as across levels of government, competition policy and market openness. It also provides a special focus on Commonwealth-state relationships." - abstract.

China's megatrends : the 8 pillars of a new society [book]

Authors: John and Doris Naisbitt

"Reveals that China is not only undergoing fundamental changes but also creating an entirely new social and economic model—what the Naisbitts call a "vertical democracy"—that is changing the rules of global trade and challenging Western democracy as the only acceptable form of governing. The Naisbitts have identified 8 pillars as the foundation and drivers of China's new society:

Emancipation of the Mind

Balancing Top-Down and Bottom-Up

Framing the Forest and Letting the Trees Grow

Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones

Artistic and Intellectual Ferment

Joining the World

Freedom and Fairness

From Olympic Medals to Nobel Prizes"

Find it at: 330.951 CHI 2010 or
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Australia and the global economy [book]

Editors: Tony Ciro, Bruno Mascitelli, Siva Muthaly

"Re-examines the importance of international trade and globalisation to the Australian economy. In 2008-2009 the world witnessed a spectacular collapse of confidence in financial markets. Many thought that the world would re-enter into a Great Depression. Fearing the worst, governments, central bankers and policy makers devised stimulus measures designed to increase consumer spending and industrial production." - cover.

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Call number: 337.94 AUS 2009

Invisible hand versus visible fist :securing the future wealth of nations [book]

Author: P.J. O'Rourke

In the 25th John Bonython lecture, PJ O’Rourke presents his view of the economic and financial crisis that is shaking the world. In a tour de force from Adam Smith to Bulgarian blue jeans, from Chicken Little to Barack Obama, O’Rourke solves the problems of our time. What is still puzzling to the world’s leaders becomes clear when seen through the eyes of America’s leading satirist.
PJ O’Rourke’s answer to a decline in the value of speculative assets? To pay less for them. And what should be done about the recession? Nothing. Because the cure is worse than the disease.

Find it in the journal collection, at Centre for Independent Studies (Australia). CIS Occasional Paper; No 115 (December 2009) or
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Corporate responses to climate change : achieving emissions reductions through regulation, self-regulation and economic incentives [book]

Author: Rory Sullivan

"Analyses current business practice and performance on climate change, in the light of the dramatic changes in the regulatory and policy environment over the last five years. More specifically, it examines how climate change-related policy development and implementation have influenced corporate performance, with the objective of using this information to consider how the next stage of climate change policy - regulation, incentives, voluntary initiatives - may be designed and implemented in a manner that delivers the real and substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that will be required." - cover.

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Crunch time : using and abusing Keynes to fight the twin crises of our era [book]

Author: Tony Kevin

"Australia today faces an existential challenge: how to manage simultaneously our two greatest national crises - the local effects of the global recession and global climate disruption. ... Argues that Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is dealing with these twin crises inadequately, especially by comparison with how US President Barack Obama is tackling the same policy challenges in his nation." - page 1.

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Accountability and value for money: a theoretical framework for the relationship in public–private partnerships (journal article)
by Istemi Demirag and Iqbal Khadaroo
from Journal of Management and Governance, online August 2009
"There is an implicit assumption in the UK Treasury’s publications on public-private partnerships (PPP)—also more commonly known in the United Kingdom as private finance initiative (PFI)—that accountability and value for money (VFM) are related concepts. While recent academic studies on PPP/PFI (from now on as PFI) have focused on VFM, there is a notable absence of studies exploring the ‘presumed’ relationships between accountability and VFM. ...Our preliminary interviews provide us guidance in identifying some of the cultures, processes and mechanisms indicated in our model which should enable future researchers to test not only the UK Government’s claimed relationships between accountability and VFM using more specific PFI empirical data, but also a potential relationship between accountability and performance in general. "
Please contact us for a copy of this article.

Board size and corporate performance: the missing role of board leadership structure (journal article)
by Khaled Elsayed
from Journal of Management and Governance, online 19/09/2009
"Different arguments have been introduced in the literature both for and against large and small board sizes. In this context, empirical evidence regarding the impact of board size on corporate performance is less conclusive, which means that further study is needed. Contrary to previous work, it is hypothesized in this study that the relationship between board size and corporate performance is more likely to be confounded by board leadership structure. Econometric analysis provided strong evidence for the applicability of this hypothesis and demonstrated that board size positively affects corporate performance in the presence of CEO non-duality (board leadership structure that is split between the roles of the CEO and the roles of the chairman). Furthermore, board size is shown to have a negative influence on corporate performance in the presence of CEO duality (board leadership structure that assigns the roles of both CEO and chairman to the same person). This conclusion is robust to the use of different measures of corporate performance, control variables and econometric models. Thus, these findings cast doubt on most of the existing evidence that posits that either large or small board size is always the best alternative to be followed in all organizations. "

How countries compete : strategy, structure, and government in the global economy [book]

Author: Richard H. K. Vietor

"Shows how governments both set the direction and create the climate for a nation's economic development and profitable private enterprise ... Separate chapters highlight important countries - including China, India, Japan, Singapore, and the United States, as well as Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Italy - and reveal the unique social, economic, cultural and historical forces that determine a countries trajectory." - cover.

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Throwing sheep in the boardroom : how online social networking will transform your life, work, and world [book]

Authors: Matthew Fraser & Soumitra Dutta.

"Examine the powerful forces behind the social 'e'-revolution, detailing often absurd and powerful reactions to it as well making predictions about its long-term consequences. ... Argues that while the Web 2.0 revolution has reached a tipping point socially ... it is facing powerful forces of resistance inside organizations - especially corporations and government bureaucracies." - cover.

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Supersize New Zealand : a collection of essays on how to improve New Zealand's public policy [book]

Editor: Luke Malpass / Centre for Independent Studies (Australia)

A series of essays which suggest that New Zealand needs less government, less and more predictable regulation, and less, but more targeted, government spending.

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The Return of depression economics and the crisis of 2008 [book]

Author: Paul Krugman

"Shows how today's situation parallels the events that caused the Great Depression. He surveys the economic crises that swept across Asia, Russia and Latin America in the 1990s, and reveals that those crises were a warning for all of us. Now depression economics has returned: when the great housing bubble of the mid-2000s burst, the Western financial system proved as vulnerable as those of developing countries caught up in earlier crises - and a replay of the 1930s seems all top possible. Krugman shows how it happened and lays out the steps that must be taken to turn around a world economy sliding into a deep recession. Brilliantly crafted in his trademark style - lucid, lively, and supremely informed - this will become a cornerstone of the debate over how to respond to our current economic predicament."

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Seven secrets for negotiating with government : how to deal with local, state, national, or foreign governments--and come out ahead [book]

Author: Jeswald W. Salacuse

"Provides expert guidance to allow individuals, companies, and organizations to succeed at the very special task of negotiating with governments. ... addresses the key challenges involved - from influencing bureaucracies to counter - balancing the apparently overwhelming power on the government side of the negotiating table." - cover.

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China : defining the boundary between the market and the state [online]

Author: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

"Focuses on the overall economic context for regulatory reform, the government's capacity to manage regulatory reform, competition policy and enforcement, and market openness. The review also examines the regulatory framework in the electricity, water and health care sectors." - abstract.

Revealing Australia’s Real Income Tax Rates (journal article)
By John Humphreys
From Policy Vol 25 Issue 2 Winter 2009, pp. 32-34.
“The article focuses on the effort of the government of Australia to engage an inquiry into the Australian tax and transfer system. According to the article, a transparent information on how the system works is needed to meaningfully address the income tax system. It is stated that the government must start publishing the real personal income tax scale which includes the full impacts of both the Medicare levy and low income tax onset (LITO).”

Government Ownership: why this time it should work (blog)
Source: McKinsey Quarterly 29 June 2009
"It's understandable that taxpayers and corporate executives would be anxious about the substantial stakes that the governments in the United Kingdom and the United States have taken in private companies in recent months. After all, political interference in state-owned enterprises in other countries has significantly hampered their profitability. Yet in this essay, Simon Wong, an independent advisor and adjunct professor of law at the Northwestern University School of Law, lays out five reasons for optimism this time around. "
(Free registration required)

Economic analysis of 2009/10 Federal Budget: what does it mean for Australia and you?
Source: KPMG Econtech
This presentation provides a broad overview of our national-level forecasts which incorporate the major policy measures announced in the 2009/10 Budget.

The People factor : strengthening America by investing in public service [book]

Authors: Linda Bilmes & W. Scott Gould

Facing its greatest domestic challenges since the Great Depression, America is waking up to the realization that government is still important. In their new book, The People Factor: Strengthening America by Investing in Public Service, Harvard professor Linda J. Bilmes and IBM Vice President W. Scott Gould argue that the country cannot prosper without a strong, highly functioning federal work force to manage the government. The authors call for an investment of $10 billion to improve recruiting, training and management of the federal workforce predicting that investment will yield $300-$600 billion in productivity gains. Packed with cost and performance data as well as new research on what motivates applicants for government jobs, these former government executives provide a compelling business case for investing in the civil service so that it may better serve the nation. A must read for policy makers, civil servants and citizens who demand more from government.

Would you like to read this book? Send an email to the library.

Bubble poppers : monetary policy and the myth of ’bubbles’ in asset prices [book]

Author: Stephen Kirchner, Centre for Independent Studies

"Argues that monetary policy should not aim to actively manage asset price cycles. ... Asset price cycles are a normal part of the functioning of financial markets and may have significant economic benefits. These cycles are only harmful when associated with poorly regulated financial systems and government incentives to risk taking." - introduction.

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Looking Toward the Future in the Midst of Economic Uncertainty (journal article)
By Martin Wolf
from Futurist Vol 43 Iss 3 May/June 2009, pp. 36-39
"A Financial Times columnist looks at challenges facing the global economy and how the
actions of governments could improve the situation — or worsen it."