Information Technology - use it, don't make it

Noël Coward is said to have observed that TV is for appearing on, not for looking at.The Wall Street Journal is now saying something similar about IT. It's for importing, not making.And it cites Australia as the success story."...one of the biggest beneficiaries from information technology is Australia, which hasn't any high-tech industry at all. Yet it is one of the few economies to have enjoyed a 1990s surge in productivity...

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Tipping

This week on Monday Economics with Geraldine Doogue I discussed the economics of tipping. Pure economic theory would suggest that we should not. We try to get the best possible price for things. So why pay more, and why do it after the service has been rendered? Especially if you are not likely to ever go to that town or restaurant again?The Research at Cornell University suggests that we do it in large measure to ensure...

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Happiness 3

The debate continues in Ross Gittins' column over the weekend. Many people find these conclusions shocking. They are debating at Henry Thornto...

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Happiness 2

Tom V writes: the correlation between having a job and being happy might be because theres so many negative connotations of being unemployed. perhaps because were stuck with the protestant notion of work ethic.To decipher this cause, it would be interesting to take some people, and pay them the same amount but they dont actually have to turn up to work. i doubt their happiness will decline.So two things: searching for a job might...

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Happiness

Today on Life Matters with Geraldine Doogue I spoke about happiness. Money doesn't matter much. The average Japanese can buy five times what they could after the war but is no more happy. The average American can buy 2.5 times what they could and is no more happy. Psychologist Bob Cummins from Deakin University refers to "homeostasis". He says our body regulates how happy we feel to keep our mood in a tight band, in much...

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Game Shows.

Each Monday I discuss economics with Geraldine Doogue on Life Matters on ABC Radio National.This Monday I talked about what economists are learning from TV game shows. The Price is Right and The Weakest Link are almost-perfect laboratories in which to study financial behaviour. Unlike artificial laboratories the money is real (six million for the price is right) and the data is rich (7,000 banking decisions in 70 episodes...

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Hello

This is my first post. I report for "The Business Show" on SBS television in Australia. 6.00pm Sunday nights. For most of the two decades before that I was the Economics Correspondent for ABC Radio Current Affairs. I am a former Treasury economist with an honours degree in economics. I am married to the award winning journalist Toni Hassan, and I have two children, Alexandra and Grace. My email address is peter at pete...

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