Blogotariat

By Ken Wolff In 1930 John Maynard Keynes predicted widespread technological unemployment ‘due to our discovery of means of economising the use of labour outrunning the pace at which we can find new uses for labour’. In the decades since there has been rapidly increasing technological change but employment has generally been increasing, matching population…

The post Are governments ready for the coming economic and social changes? appeared first on The AIM Network.

I find myself unexpectedly sad at the passing of Max Walker. I enjoyed both his books and his bizarrely unnatural bowling action. He seemed a decent fellow, an ordinary man who managed to stand out, even in the shadows of the Lillee-Thompson collosus.

The risk of riders dying on Australian roads is declining but there’s still a lot to be done to make cycling safer; better infrastructure is at the top of the list Is cycling on roads getting safer?

In 1930 John Maynard Keynes predicted widespread technological unemployment ‘due to our discovery of means of economising the use of labour outrunning the pace at which we can find new uses for labour’.

That’s the title of the FH Gruen lecture I’ll be presenting at ANU on Tuesday 4 October.

I’ll be talking first about the end of the era of reform that began in the early 1980s, and then about the information economy and a policy agenda for the 21st century.

Mayor Jim Simmons (standing) and Deputy Mayor Jason Kingsley (seated)Shortly after 4pm on 27 September 2016 in an open (show of hands) ballot by the nine recently elected councillors, Cr. Jim Simmons of Maclean was elected Mayor of Clarence Valley Council and Cr.

Denis Bright invites discussion on the future place of Timor-Leste in Australia’s international relations. Conventional strategic assessments in a succession of Australian Defence White Papers underestimate the importance of peaceful sustainable development strategies in neighbouring countries like Timor-Leste.  Does Timor-Leste’s commitment to peace and disarmament offer some viable alternatives to Australia’s current strategic insecurity? Just…

 Dr Tristan EwinsThis week’s US Presidential Debate was interesting in a number of ways.  The economic debate in particular was of concern to this observer.  In summary, it was framed with the opposition of Trump’s traditional neo-liberal emphasis on ‘trickle down’ Reaganomics, deregulation, and sweeping corporate tax cuts.  By contras

Last Friday, I by accident caught a show on Sky hosted by Christopher Pyne and Richard Marles.  Apparently it is a weekly event where these two discuss the issues of the day.  At the end of the program they answer a question supposedly sent in by a viewer and this week the question was “Is…

The post The art of schmoozing appeared first on The AIM Network.

The impending closure of the big Hazelwood brown coal generator in Victoria could provide the impetus for the construction of the first large scale solar tower and storage project in Australia.

Qld Court of Appeal sides against climate and with Rinehart, state govt, who argue coal from other mines would substitute environmental damage of Alpha if it didn't go ahead.

Mercury can't get a break. Not only is it the smallest officially recognized planet in our Solar System, but it's also shrinking. In a study published in Nature Geoscience, new analysis of photos taken by NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft show distinct landforms that indicate the planet is still contracting as it slowly cools down from its molten early years at the start of the Solar System.

Automating forestry is an uphill battle. Trees grow well on slopes and steep inclines, which are difficult for farming equipment, adapted as it is to sweeping, gentle plains. This is especially hard for the replanting part of responsible forestry, where seedlings need deliberate, tender care so they can begin to replace their fallen predecessors. This is, right now, a human intensive process, but startup DroneSeed wants to turn over the entire process to, you guessed it, drones.