Confiscating the savings of depositors to bail out banks, as is being done in Cyprus, is to become the preferred method of dealing with future bank failures in the European Union. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the board of governors of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), has announced that the EU’s Cyprus policy would be a…
The same-sex marriage lobby is planning bills for state and territory legislatures, while pressing both the federal Labor Party and Coalition to change their policies on the issue. A New South Wales upper-house inquiry is preparing the way for a state bill. Despite the defeat of such a bill in the Tasmanian upper house, there…
The world is struggling to find leaders capable of solving the global economic crisis that has left many nations with huge debts, high unemployment and vast inequalities. Before the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC), the captains of finance and industry could use the annual Davos economic summit to trumpet the virtues of “deep” economic globalisation,…
The recent 2013 national conference of the National Civic Council focused on policies for the federal election, which has been announced for September 14. Conference speakers covered a range of the major issues facing Australia. Mary Louise Fowler, national vice-president of the Australian Family Association, outlined how the World Congress of Families can play a…