Jumping on the career carousel

Young people will need skills in IT and other high-tech areas if they are to forge careers in tomorrow’s fast changing job market.

Summit fever

Labor’s much-hyped Jobs and Skills Summit has proved a political success, but will it produce practical benefits for Australia’s labor market?

Productivity is not a panacea

Growth in productivity is a vital dimension of economic success and higher living standards, but it doesn’t automatically deliver them.

Global warming may boost demand for Australian wheat exports

The gap between high wheat producing and low wheat producing countries is set to widen under 2°C of global warming, increasing some countries’ reliance on imports according to Australian and international researchers.

Are there still “limits to growth”?

Half a century ago, the famous “Limits to Growth” report from M.I.T. predicted economic and environmental collapse if the world did not husband its resources – how many of its predictions have come true?

Sustainable manufacturing

Sustainable manufacturing employs cleaner and more efficient systems to reduce the use of energy and resources and minimise environmental impacts while ensuring human demands are still met.

Is Australia prepared for foot-and-mouth disease?

Foot-and-Mouth diseases was detected last week in the tourist hotspot of Bali, closer to mainland Australia than it has been in the 130 years since it was last eradicated.

Maintaining a global agenda

Global uncertainties have given birth to pronouncements that range from nonsense to seriously dangerous such as that the WTO is dead and that globalisation has run its full course, but the WTO is not dead, and neither is globalisation.

Don’t bet the farm on agricultural robots

Robots can help farmers improve crop yields and ease labour shortages but their adoption has been much slower than in other realms such as manufacturing.

Local food makes better eating

The 50 year old philosophy of degrowth involves producing quality products in local economies to cover basic needs and promises a more ecologically sustainable future.

Agriculture 4.0 helps farmers do more with less

If integrated correctly, new technologies can enhance crop yields, reduce production costs, improve the traceability of food, eliminate unnecessary waste and detect diseases in advance, but harnessing Agriculture 4.0’s full value won’t be easy.

The return of industrial action?

Rising inflation and stagnant wages are increasing the number of strikes across the country as workers begin to agitate for more rights and better renumeration at the workplace.