Tessera

China’s EV success wasn’t simply the result of a powerful central government picking winners. As Fengming Lu and Xiao Ma explain, competition between ministries, local governments and private capital helped drive experimentation and innovation – with lessons for industrial policy well beyond China.…

China’s EV success was built on more than government intervention

China’s rise as the world’s leading electric vehicle producer offers an interesting case study in industrial policy. Its experience shows how competition between government agencies, local governments and private capital can drive experimentation and innovation, while also creating challenges for governments seeking to support emerging industries.

pearlsandirritations.com

Are we getting too good at managing homelessness without actually ending it? Fabian Weller examines Australia’s growing reliance on emergency accommodation, outreach and temporary solutions, and argues that the focus must shift towards prevention, permanent housing and addressing the causes of home…

Are we getting too good at managing homelessness?

Australia’s homelessness response has become increasingly sophisticated, but emergency accommodation and outreach cannot substitute for a home. The focus must shift towards prevention, permanent housing and addressing the systems that push people into homelessness in the first place.

pearlsandirritations.com

If the RBA only reaches for the hammer of interest rates when inflation rises, it risks treating every problem like a nail. Australia needs targeted policies that address the actual causes of inflation — from profiteering and energy prices to supply constraints, Mark Diesdendorf writes.

Fighting inflation without making inequality worse

Interest rates are a blunt tool for tackling inflation, and can hurt the people least able to absorb higher costs.

pearlsandirritations.com

Trump’s reported $1.1 million-an-hour gains during his first year back in office raise questions about presidential conflicts of interest and accountability. Ralph Nader looks at how Democrats could make the scale of Trump’s reported profits more tangible and use congressional scrutiny to examine h…

Democrats should make Trump’s $1.1 million an hour impossible to ignore

The reported $2.2 billion in profits involving Donald Trump and his family during his first year back in office has prompted scrutiny of the president’s financial interests. The Democrats should make the scale of the gains more tangible and push for greater scrutiny of presidential conflicts of interest.

pearlsandirritations.com

Leaked shipping records show Australian F-35 parts continuing to reach Israel on passenger aircraft – now via the US rather than Thailand. The new route raises fresh questions about government claims over Australia’s role in the supply chain, Peter Cronau writes. #auspol #Gaza #Israel

Shadow flights: Australia’s F-35 parts pipeline to Israel now runs through the US

Leaked shipping records show Australian F-35 parts continuing to reach Israel on passenger aircraft, with shipments now routed through the United States rather than Thailand.

pearlsandirritations.com

Australia is running deficits. That means we’re enjoying services without paying their full cost – and leaving younger generations the debt and interest bill, Ross Gittins writes. #auspol #Budget #Economy

The Productivity Commission has found that Australia’s 2018 GST reforms are “not operating efficiently, effectively or as intended”. Western Australia has received billions in additional funding, yet its productivity growth has been negative and per-capita economic growth has been zero – Saul Esl…

The Productivity Commission has exposed the failure of WA’s GST windfall

The Productivity Commission has found that the 2018 GST reforms are failing on efficiency, effectiveness and fairness, while Western Australia continues to benefit from billions in funding.

pearlsandirritations.com

Seven hours to prove he can speak English. Palestinian students with university places and scholarships in Ireland are facing visa barriers that fail to account for the realities of life in Gaza. Meg Schwarz examines the barriers facing students and asks whether Ireland’s visa system is recognisin…

Seven hours to prove he speaks English: Gaza students in visa limbo

Young Palestinians offered a place by Irish universities shouldn’t lose that future because the mechanisms of a visa system can’t accommodate the reality of the place from from which they are applying.

pearlsandirritations.com

More people globally now favour China over the US, according to recent polling. Richard Cullen says China’s growing soft power reflects not only America’s decline, but the practical benefits of Chinese technology, manufacturing and development. #China #Geopolitics #SoftPower

The growth of Chinese soft power, and the decline of America's

Global opinion is shifting towards China as its technology, manufacturing and development record strengthen its appeal, while decades of war and political turmoil erode America’s standing.

pearlsandirritations.com

Australia’s home ownership rate is 66 per cent. But counted by people rather than households, it is just 51 per cent. Millions of Australians are living in an owned home without owning it themselves. Karl Fitzgerald examines what this means for young Australians, housing policy and how we understan…

Australia’s home ownership rate doesn’t tell the whole story

Australia’s home ownership rate is 66 per cent when counted by household, but just 51 per cent when counted by person. The difference leaves millions of Australians living in an owned home without owning one themselves – and changes how we should understand Australia’s housing crisis.

pearlsandirritations.com

Australia’s productivity debate may be missing the bigger picture. Decades of neoliberal policy have fuelled inequality and deeper economic problems — and that productivity alone won’t fix them, Allan Patience writes. #Auspol #Economy #Productivity

Productivism won’t fix Australia’s economic woes

Australia’s productivity debate is overlooking the deeper economic problems created by decades of neoliberal policy.

pearlsandirritations.com

Labor is polling at just 28 per cent. So why does it still look likely to win the next election? Crispin Hull looks at the rise of One Nation, the split on the right and how preferences could determine whether Labor holds onto government. #AusPol

Labor’s 28 per cent should spell danger. Instead, it could be enough to win

Labor’s primary vote has fallen to just 28 per cent as One Nation’s surge splits the right, yet the government remains on track to win the next election. With preference flows still uncertain, Labor faces pressure to address voters’ concerns over immigration, housing and the cost of living.

pearlsandirritations.com

The US-Iran ceasefire was meant to pave the way for 60 days of peace talks. Instead, it collapsed within weeks. Sarah Shamin looks at how the agreement broke down, from disputes over the Strait of Hormuz to renewed military strikes, and what its failure means. #USIran

Why the US-Iran ceasefire collapsed

A US-Iran ceasefire agreement intended to pave the way for 60 days of peace talks collapsed amid renewed military strikes and disputes over the Strait of Hormuz. With both sides accusing each other of violating the deal, negotiations remain deadlocked and the wider war shows little sign of being resolved.

pearlsandirritations.com

In the second of a two-part series, Jon Stanford and Michael Keating examine AUKUS’s nuclear dilemma: Australia would assume long-term responsibility for weapons-grade uranium when LEU submarine options may offer a safer, more sovereign path. #AUKUS #auspol #Defence

AUKUS Pillar One, part two: The nuclear dilemma – acquiring a sustainable, sovereign undersea capability

In the second of a two-part series, the focus turns to nuclear stewardship. AUKUS would leave Australia responsible for weapons-grade uranium throughout the submarine lifecycle, while lower-enriched alternatives may offer a safer and more sovereign path.

pearlsandirritations.com

In part seven of his AUKUS infrastructure series, Peter Briggs turns to Henderson – where dock capacity, dredging, competing shipbuilding demands and nuclear regulation are colliding before construction has properly begun. #AUKUS #auspol #Defence

AUKUS Infrastructure, part 7: Sorting the submarine source and sustainment stalemate

In part seven of the AUKUS infrastructure series, the focus turns to Henderson, where fragmented planning risks locking Australia into costly nuclear bottlenecks before construction has properly begun.

pearlsandirritations.com

Six months of pressure on Cuba’s oil supply have brought deeper blackouts, transport failures and shortages. The answer is not more coercion, but humanitarian relief and long-term energy sovereignty, Vijay Prashad writes. #Cuba #Sanctions #Energy

Cuba needs energy security, not another generation of collective punishment

Six months of intensified US pressure on Cuba’s energy supply have deepened blackouts, transport failures and shortages. The immediate need is humanitarian relief; the longer-term answer is energy sovereignty.

pearlsandirritations.com

For more than 30 years, scientists have warned that humanity is pushing the planet towards crisis. The latest warning says climate, extinction, pollution and other threats cannot be solved in isolation, Julian Cribb writes. #Climate #Environment #PlanetaryCrisis

The planetary emergency is here. The warnings are getting louder

Decades of scientific warnings have done little to change humanity’s course. A new warning looks at the interconnected pressures facing the planet and what can be done about them.

pearlsandirritations.com

NDIS reform is set to save $37.8 billion by tightening eligibility and reducing some supports. Children, people with psychosocial disability and those with few alternatives may be hardest hit, Mona Nikidehaghani writes. #NDIS #auspol #Disability

NDIS reforms are coming. Who could lose support?

Proposed NDIS reforms would tighten eligibility, cut some participation funding and move hundreds of thousands out of the scheme, while replacement supports remain uncertain.

pearlsandirritations.com

Falling house prices may offer younger Australians a way into the housing market, but the rush to build more homes risks sacrificing planning, quality and urban amenity, Jack Waterford writes. #housing #auspol

Are the rich and old to be pitched against the young and poor?

Making housing affordable for younger Australians will require lower land prices and a major increase in housing supply. But the rush to build risks sacrificing planning standards, urban amenity and sustainability, while the labour shortage makes immigration an unavoidable part of the equation.

pearlsandirritations.com

Humanity has never had more knowledge at its fingertips, yet understanding of the systems shaping our lives remains scarce. Education must do more than produce specialists if democracy is to cope with complexity, Stewart Sweeney writes. #Education #Democracy #Knowledge

The democratic danger of knowing more and understanding less

Humanity has built an extraordinary system for producing and sharing knowledge, yet many people still lack a broad understanding of the systems shaping their lives. That gap is becoming a democratic dilemma.

pearlsandirritations.com