tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40813462012-01-28T12:28:16.018+10:00Anything GoesRandom thoughts (when I get around to it) on politics and public discourse by David Havyatt.David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.comBlogger10681100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-59517390023311678762012-01-27T21:17:00.000+10:002012-01-27T21:17:11.901+10:00The Liberals and Indigenous AustraliansSo that's twice in recent times the Labor PM has saved the Opposition Leader from the consequence of a gaffe over indigenous affairs.
The first was Kevin Rudd helping Brendon Nelson over the disaster that was his address in the Apology by going across the chamber to get Nelson to accompany the elders into the Parliament.
Then yesterday we had Julia Gillard ensuring her security detail David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-10838529300966475642012-01-23T13:21:00.000+10:002012-01-23T13:21:34.440+10:00KodakAnyone observing the latest chapter in the Kodak story would do well to read Clayton Christiansen's The Innovator's Dilemma.
Kodak, you see, invented digital photography but didn't invest for fear of cannibalising the film business. This the only technology choice where this occurred.
There ought to be a saying somewhere, if you don't cannibalise your own business you will just end up road David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-9496012419840961952012-01-12T17:52:00.000+10:002012-01-12T17:52:22.455+10:00Not Blogging ReallyAnyone in Australia thinking of the idea of primaries should take a bit of a look at what happens in the US.
This ad is run by Newt Ginrich to destroy the credibility of Mitt Romney.
But Ron Paul goes one better and just attacks Newt and Mitt.
But when you follow these links you find a really monumental pro-Ron Paul piece which argues that a non-interventionist Foreign Policy as proposed David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-11174463575740090922011-12-31T16:42:00.000+10:002011-12-31T16:42:40.376+10:00The Iron Lady - VerdictThe Iron Lady is a disappointing film, but not for all the reasons outlined in John Huxley's column today.
It wasn't merely "revisionism", and the long-term effect of Thatcher on Britain is something on which rational intelligent informed people could disagree. Far from being toned down "Thatcherism" it demonstrated how her downfall within her own party was determined by th excesses to which David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-24931461856420771162011-12-09T08:03:00.000+10:002011-12-09T08:03:28.536+10:00To my loyal reader(s)As reported in CommsDay today I will be commencing a gig as Temporary Special Adviser to Senator Conroy starting Monday.
Writing a blog is inconsistent with the role. While some of my esoteric pieces on the nature of religion, the global sweep of history and heterodox economics might be legitimate independent comment, those who know me well know I would find it hard not to stray.
It does leaveDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-2095385197958473132011-12-07T15:15:00.000+10:002011-12-07T15:15:07.610+10:00The Corporation - Part 2Nice little piece today from Ross Gittins on suggestions for a "relational business charter".
In part it goes to the same territory as my comments on the corporation. But only in part.
The question is more how would you get firm's to pursue the objectives given the myth of "maximising returns". The answer is more that the public policy debate needs a better understanding of the role of David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-23425583133528024172011-12-07T14:55:00.001+10:002011-12-07T14:58:41.576+10:00Heterodoxy UnboundI have spent the last two days at the conference of the Australian Society of Heterodox Economists.
The conference re-established a core point - the heterodox are united by what they stand against rather than what they stand for.
What they stand against is the dominant paradigm of the neo-classical core of economics. But even how much they stand against this varies.
Universally they would David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-23000722423281231862011-12-07T08:44:00.000+10:002011-12-07T08:44:13.445+10:00Weird commentsI just moderated a weird comment on a post about the University of Sydney rebranding.
The comment made reference to a supposed "secret society" called the "Integralia." Further research has thrown up a short item in Honi Soit that provides good evidence that the existence of the society is an organised hoax.
The hoax is centred on its own wikispace and seems to be actively centred on a David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-35680127962868736642011-12-01T08:15:00.000+10:002011-12-01T08:15:18.474+10:00Update on CanadaThanks to Catherine Middleton for alerting me that the story on easing foreign ownership restrictions in Canada is premature.
The relevant Minister did indicate that change is underway but will not be unveiled till 2012.
He interestingly is reported to have said "the government expects cellphone companies to offer rural Canadians the same services as those living in cities." Canada faces the David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-61986980498184562822011-11-30T10:47:00.000+10:002011-11-30T10:47:22.955+10:00Kevin Rudd and the Right on the ALPLaunching yet another book on the current malaise of the ALP Kevin Rudd has provided his own analysis. Much of this is confused, and what he calls for is indistinct.
He starts by asserting a distinction between Labor good and the other side evil as;
A Party that has painted most of the nation’s history on a wide and expansive canvas; its economic reforms, its social innovation, the centrality David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-86180227614404644812011-11-29T11:41:00.000+10:002011-11-29T11:41:15.489+10:00The CorporationIn my many and varied writings there is one issue that is central, and that I very seldom discuss directly. That issue is an understanding of the Corporation as an economic and political institution. My understanding of the Corporation informs my overall "socialist" bent - wherein I read the "socialisation of the means of production etc" to not mean social ownership but directed to social not David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-66580402888428014472011-11-29T09:11:00.000+10:002011-11-29T09:11:01.400+10:00Canada and mobiles/wirelessAn interesting report today that the Canadian Government is considering reducing the restrictions on foreign ownership of telcos.
The article neatly points out how the current ownership limit would impede new entrants into the market. The discussion has some relevance to the yet to be undertaken (or revealed) analysis of competition limits to apply to the Australian Digital Dividend spectrum David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-77168154124498430992011-11-25T09:43:00.000+10:002011-11-25T09:43:39.607+10:00The NBN and the phone serviceFascinating item in the AFR today (behind paywall) in which the new chief executive of Primus rants about the need for the NBN to do more for phone service.
According to this CEO the NBN only provides for one telephone and to get the existing telephones to work requires "extensive rewiring". That to me is complete and utter nonsense. From the ATA part of the NTU the customer gets exactly the David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-76299548600950978652011-11-23T17:37:00.001+10:002011-11-24T00:23:22.379+10:00Australia Post and the Digital Economy UPDATEDSince Maha Krishnapillai announced that he was leaving Optus everyone has been wondering "where is he going?" We were only told it was a commercial role in a non-competing organisation. Today it has been revealed in CommsDay that he is off to Australia Post.
It was an interesting way to find out - given that the only other news coverage in the AFR and The Register seems to also have been David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-3816312640373548102011-11-16T08:59:00.000+10:002011-11-16T08:59:14.858+10:00The Digital Economy, Globalisation and ChangeI gave this paper at CPRF 2011 last week on Competition Policy for the Digital Economy. My core thesis was that policy makers refer to "competition" as a policy goal with little understanding, and what understanding they do have needs to change.
The paper traces the evolution of "competition policy" from its anti-monopolisation US origins, through the regulatory state of the post-Depression (David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-20210767577681245902011-11-14T09:29:00.000+10:002011-11-14T09:29:32.685+10:00Regulation or DeregulationI reckon everyone who talks about deregulation of the Labor market should read this Ross Gittins piece.
As he says;
Here's the point: the labour market has always been highly regulated. It remained highly regulated under Work Choices and it's still highly regulated under Fair Work. It's always likely to stay highly regulated for a simple reason: unlike all other markets, the labour market dealsDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-55135847108228595602011-11-13T14:02:00.000+10:002011-11-13T14:02:56.446+10:00PM's Armistice Day AddressI had the opportunity to attend the Armistice Day ceremony at the Australian War Memorial on Friday (at the same time as my number two daughter was on a battlefields tour where her great grandfather Walder fought in WWI).
I finalised the iTnews column by e-mail from my phone just before it started - and would like to think that one day I could write a speech as good as the one the PM deliveredDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-57176383243714539442011-11-13T13:45:00.000+10:002011-11-13T13:45:07.994+10:00Digital Dividend AuctionMy column for iTnews this week is based on the ACMA's Digital Dividend Spectrum Tune-Up.
In it I use some data put up by DBCDE to speculate on the values that will be raised at auction. You might recall that I estimated the $A equivalent for the French 2.5 GHz auction at $458M. I also noted the Italian 700MHz equivalent raised abiout 2 and a half times as much.
These are consistent with the David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-63957398220319012682011-11-03T15:47:00.000+10:002011-11-03T15:47:36.551+10:00The Future with High Speed BroadbandThe Commerce Commission in New Zealand is an interesting regulator. They have an "inquiring mind" and like to think about the future and what the emerging issues could be.
This contrasts with so much of Australia's policy and regulatory bodies who merely react to events.
The ComCom's latest foray is their study of High Speed Broadband Services: Demand side studies
Commissioner Ross David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-18946582576644069792011-11-02T09:34:00.000+10:002011-11-02T09:34:31.567+10:00More on QantasAs accusations flow about when people were told of the Qantas lock-out it is pretty clear that Joyce was so obsessed with the security risk that he never really made it clear to the Government. Ultimately he was speaking in code.
But Joe Hockey reckons;
(Qantas has) been saying it around parliament house for the last few weeks. They've been saying it privately and publicly around parliament David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-38671569660972732482011-10-31T16:05:00.001+10:002011-10-31T16:15:49.665+10:00Australia's Shrinking ICT Policy EngagementIt is really quite hard to come to grips with exactly what has been happening in the ICT lobbying space over recent years. Australia had three groups with a policy focus in the ICT space.
The user side was represented by the Australian Telecommunications Users Group (ATUG) which this year celebrated its 3oth anniversary by closing its doors. The charitable interpretation was that the David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-23834276510256972072011-10-31T14:59:00.000+10:002011-10-31T14:59:58.252+10:00NBN ConfusionThe coalition doesn't like the NBN - we know that. Malcolm Turnbull, Paul Fletcher and Barnaby Joyce go on about it.
But coalition backbenchers don't like the NBN - because residents don't know when they are getting it. Government backbenchers have also been known to complain about the inadequate roll-out schedule.
The public in general really wonders if the coalition can "stop the NBN." David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-63084726111810197402011-10-31T12:08:00.001+10:002011-10-31T12:08:47.744+10:00On patentsStumbled upon this blurb for a book on patents. looks to be worth a read if I had time......
Novae Meridianae Demetae Dexter delenda estDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-32680852226325949572011-10-31T10:45:00.001+10:002011-10-31T12:34:48.035+10:00Queensland and Northern Territory Air ServicesThe history of commercial aviation in Australia prior to the 1980s is one of the many subjects on which I have very little knowledge.
Somehow leading up to that point a private sector domestic airline had morphed into a government owned international carrier. Clearly delineated were two domestic inter-capital carriers, one Government owned the other privately (TAA and Ansett). Finally there David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-46632634598778887372011-10-26T11:19:00.000+10:002011-10-26T11:19:53.281+10:00As if by magicI write about the issue of power, and lo I then discover a story about the 147 companies that control everything. An interesting read about modelling of networks really.
These are mostly financial houses as per my note about corporate power.
A retort tried to argue that these finance companies were ultimately just agents for all of us as investors - but that is technically rubbish, David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-74913631664163990322011-10-26T10:16:00.002+10:002011-10-26T10:16:28.490+10:00A good read on global warmingWhy you should not be a sceptic from the WSJ.
Novae Meridianae Demetae Dexter delenda estDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-4560340817097482592011-10-26T10:09:00.000+10:002011-10-26T10:09:29.103+10:00On DemocracyThis is one of those grab bag posts caused by a flurry of stories in today's press.
It starts with an item by Peter Costello in which he bells the cat on the "faceless" "powerbrokers", most notably those in the ALP. After an introduction about the influence of Deng Xiaoping after he formally "retired" (and one could add Lee Kwan Yu) he writes;
In Australia we have people who imagine themselvesDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-8222949153494792992011-10-25T10:26:00.000+10:002011-10-25T10:26:42.510+10:00The Sorry State of Telco Regulatory AffairsI probably need to do a longer piece on this, but saying as I do there is a sorry state in Telco regulatory affairs will win me no friends. Indeed, it might even find a few people ready to hurl personal accusations about me as being "bitter" over some imagined slight.
The reality is that the state of affairs I describe is one which is driven by the same set of issues that drove the GFC (the David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-53299507577030556232011-10-24T11:02:00.000+10:002011-10-24T11:02:52.619+10:00Occupiers againI can't seem to get over my obsession with the Occupiers. Following their eviction in Melbourne and Sydney in recent days, there is a new flurry of confused commentary.
The standard line gets repeated that the occupiers need a point not just publicity.
A new avenue is found by David Penberthy who tries to claim that it is a left-wing protest about left-wing problems. He makes a number of David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-84493531025972605342011-10-24T10:23:00.001+10:002011-10-24T10:29:14.347+10:00Experts and the PublicSocial analyst David Chalke in this morning's National Times writes
The political classes of Australia are living in one world and the public in another. In the words of eminent American social researcher Daniel Yankelovich, these worlds have different agendas, vocabularies and concerns and they are barely connecting with each other. The consequence is a significant and serious disconnect David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-81422580524909283682011-10-20T16:17:00.000+10:002011-10-20T16:17:04.782+10:00CitiesThe Australian Government released its State of Australian Cities 2011 report today.
Despite the comment that;
Analysis shows a strong positive correlation between cities with robust information and communications technology and strong intellectual assets.
The word "broadband" seems to only appear twice in the report, both times in reference to a ranking of Sydney in a PWC report.
What hopeDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-66510256304888192112011-10-20T15:32:00.000+10:002011-10-20T15:32:40.406+10:00Technicians and true politiciansA theme in Frank Sartor's new book The Fog on the Hill is the relationship between policy and politics. Sartor propounds the view that too many in the NSW ALP were putting politics before policy; they wanted to say what the public wanted to hear, not work out what they wanted to say and then figure out how to present it.
Ultimately, it is a false dichotomy. Good policy is good politics. It isDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-6207251331972115102011-10-20T11:15:00.000+10:002011-10-20T11:15:11.695+10:00On tablets and brandsLanguage is a funny thing. I recall working with an American consultant in 1991. Just as we were about to go into a meeting he looked at me and said "I know this isn't the word you use, but do you have a tablet I could use?"
Luckily I was able to interpret that he was after a writing pad and not some kind of pill.
Today there is news that Telstra is abandoning the marketing of the Telstra David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-33162017678134051742011-10-19T14:54:00.000+10:002011-10-19T14:54:17.754+10:00Channelling global execsIn my iTnews column last week I wrote;
Telcos have made a habit of telling us that they aren’t each others’ main competitors, that the “real competition” is Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft or some other device.
They need to take this opportunity to act like they believe that their real competition are the application providers. They need to acknowledge that years of “competing on service” David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-61447945525773918992011-10-19T09:45:00.000+10:002011-10-19T09:45:14.659+10:00Cultural PolicyIn a two-part item on cultural policy on The Conversation, Stuart Cunningham first outlines the contribution of the cultural sector to the economy, including jobs, and then introduces a Culture Consumption Price Index (CCPI)
The introduction to the National Cultural Policy discussion paper says;
The arts and creative industries are fundamental to Australia’s identity as a
society and nation, David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-13585563363420234782011-10-18T16:39:00.000+10:002011-10-18T16:39:53.131+10:00Is it weird?Four resolutions were voted on at the Telstra AGM; the NBN transaction, the re-appointment of the Chair and another Director and the remuneration report.
99.45% supported the NBN agreements. Is it weird that it received the biggest majority of the four votes?
As the Telstra meeting was going on the Prime Minister announced the release by NBNCo of the twelve month schedule.
Was it weird that David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-22645163694610447752011-10-18T13:04:00.002+10:002011-10-18T13:04:07.971+10:00Telstra AFRVery pleased with my first ever Op Ed piece run in the AFR this morning. (Behind paywall).
As 99% of proxies voted for the resolution it didn't really matter, but it was important to inject a dose of reality into the conversation given the politically motivated campaign to derail the deal.
Novae Meridianae Demetae Dexter delenda estDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-13842434267326875662011-10-17T10:51:00.000+10:002011-10-17T10:51:18.368+10:00Can the Government win on Australia Television tenderUltimately it is absurd to have a Government funded national overseas television service operated by anyone other than the Government funded broadcaster. However, since the commercial networks first had the Australia Television service tendered out under the Howard Government (won by Seven) that has been the accepted position.
Perhaps having it in commercial hands can provide greater cover for David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-32421601970510887392011-10-17T10:07:00.001+10:002011-10-17T10:37:56.057+10:00Occupiers and Pirates - a reprise (updated)I'm going to link the two movements again because they both represent a shift in thinking. They know what they are against but haven't yet figured out what they are for.
Today Peter Shergold tells us that what the Occupiers hate about business is the "unconstrained pursuit of high-risk short-term profits." For him the solution is just a nice dose of good old fashioned "Corporate Social David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-18082753320507375742011-10-17T09:11:00.000+10:002011-10-17T09:11:03.998+10:00The other lessons from JobsI've alreadt blogged about my little homily on the lessons telcos could learn from Steve Jobs.
But not all the lessons we learn from Jobs are good ones - indeed there are some important public policy ones.
The management homily by example is given another good run by Dr Ray Welling in NETT magazine.
They list six Jobs statements;
* Things don’t have to change the world to be important.
* David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-72077557298331683262011-10-14T15:44:00.000+10:002011-10-14T15:44:53.381+10:00On double dissolutionsWith Tony Abbott having made a "commitment in blood" (but we don't know if it is written down) to repeal the carbon tax, the question has been raised whether it is possible to do so.
The issue rests on timing and our weird electoral system.
In his Media Watch Dog Gerard Henderson takes Richard Dennis to task. Denniss it is claimed said on the BCs The Drum
Richard Denniss: …Even if there’s aDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-36884578784441552782011-10-14T14:56:00.001+10:002011-10-14T14:57:04.308+10:00Thinking out loudWe've been told that the joint NBN Committee is going to hear from New Zealand so that;
The conversations are hoped to settle an ongoing argument from shadow communications minister Malcolm Turnbull that a fibre-to-the-node rollout would cost a quarter or a third of the $27 billion headline currently set for government contributions to the NBN.
I am a little bemused by the claim, and indeed howDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-71918791092443637402011-10-14T12:21:00.000+10:002011-10-14T12:21:45.310+10:00Huawei and TradeYet more interference with Huawei in the US on spurious security concerns.
Is the next step for Huawei a WTO action to argue that this is US protectionism under another name?
Novae Meridianae Demetae Dexter delenda estDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-30020647131929769492011-10-14T12:00:00.000+10:002011-10-14T12:00:39.312+10:00Berating telcosToday I again use my iTnews column to berate Australia's telcos.
This time I've used Steve Jobs to try to analyse what a truly customer focused telco would look like.
I really feel for all my colleagues in the corporate affairs and regulatory space because they cop the brunt of the commentary from the ACMA, ACCAN, the TIO and Minister about the need to improve customer service, but don't David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-55305648341479752022011-10-14T10:29:00.000+10:002011-10-14T10:29:07.811+10:00How much is your MBA worth?The latest ranking of MBAs by The Economist is accompanied by a simple summary of the impact on income, tuition fees and completion time for the top twenty.
It raises the simple question of "is the MBA worth it". For the analysis below I've made the following assumptions.
* The starting salary (salary at graduation less the percentage increase) would have been salary in perpetuity without David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-63414212693320390922011-10-14T09:40:00.000+10:002011-10-14T09:40:27.639+10:00Asher's foolishnessSo Allan Asher has been caught out providing Greens Senators with questions to ask him at estimates. The action has been called unwise and grubby.
It has been met with calls for explanation or resignation.
I agree with all those comments. Asher himself said;
I chose this unorthodox approach to bring my concerns to the attention of the Parliament and the public. I would welcome a David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-14787222675101985052011-10-14T08:22:00.003+10:002011-10-14T08:39:18.559+10:00Green barreling and the MFPHenry Ergas has launched a tirade against the Government's climate change policy. He is reasonably concerned about the prospect of "painting the pork barrell green" through the $10B in subsidies available from the Green Energy Finance Corporation.
My problem is that I don't see much better on the other side where EVERYTHING is by "direct action."
I don't accept the generic conclusion that;
. David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-24118701815357163102011-10-13T13:03:00.000+10:002011-10-13T13:03:33.733+10:00Pirates and OccupiersVarious
http://theconversation.edu.au/how-can-australias-politics-be-improved-2996?utm_source=The+Conversation+Daily+updates&utm_campaign=50e27d0fde-DailyNewsletter&utm_medium=email
Pirate party
The Occupy Wall Street mob continue to confound analysts. The latest is a piece that sees the major learning from the occupiers the use of social media.
That, I'm afraid, is already old news. If youDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-22115530533560833002011-10-13T09:29:00.000+10:002011-10-13T09:29:01.916+10:00Fantasy from the IPAOnly an ideological puritan from the IPA could argue that the volatility in equity and other markets is all the fault of Governments.
The item notes
There is also international empirical evidence to suggest that share markets returns are lower and volatility is higher when legislatures are in session, which is not altogether surprising given the role of taxation and regulatory policies on the David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-45532077245557959142011-10-12T17:13:00.000+10:002011-10-12T17:13:58.171+10:00The Member for WentworthThere it is in Hansard.
Interjector - Would the honorable member be prepared to sell the Post Office?
Member for Wentworth - No.
The Member for Wentworth though is not the current one, but indeed the Member for Wentworth in 1946, Eric Harrison. By then he was a former Post-Master General, and was then the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party. The occasion was the debate on the Overseas David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-35723138474979224782011-10-12T11:00:00.032+10:002011-10-12T11:47:31.879+10:00What is the opposite of Godwin's Law?I don't know what the opposite of Godwin's Law is, but in a strange piece of irony it appears that Malcolm Turnbull is trying to define it.
The irony is, of course, that it was another Godwin (Grech) who caused Turnbull so much trouble when leader, resulting in a classic case of over-reaching and rhetorical flourish. To remind you Godwin's Law states "As an online discussion grows longer, theDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-45935369969967044992011-10-11T15:11:00.002+10:002011-10-12T11:13:06.317+10:00Strangest headlineGerard Henderson's SMH column today was headed Unions choose masters over members in carbon tax debate
It is strange in two ways. Firstly, despite commenting on the uniqueness of Australia's unions in supporting action on climate change, at no point did the article assett that their position was determined by the ALP.
But the stranger idea is the implied reversal of roles. After all we David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-49843811814507521292011-10-11T12:03:00.000+10:002011-10-11T12:03:23.957+10:00Copyright and patentsThere are few things in life more difficult to decide than what the appropriate regime is for the creation and protection of "intellectual property." I say creation to refer to the creation of the property right not the creation of the the original work. Intellectual property rights like all property rights are actually social constructions.
At one end of the scale there is an argument that David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-1400827710767478462011-10-11T10:25:00.000+10:002011-10-11T10:25:50.216+10:00Occupy Wall StreetThe ever delightful Chris Wallace on breakfastpolitics today gave the title In which I underestimate Occupy Wall Street to Sophie Mirabella's column in The Punch which was really title Protestors occupied with glib, childish, pointless fantasy.
I think Chris is more on the money.
Mirabella is absolutely right that the movement that is "Occupy Wall Street" is just a lot of un-happy campers. It David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-55615856336430457742011-10-10T14:14:00.000+10:002011-10-10T14:14:43.185+10:00Australia's NorthMark Latham in today's AFR (behind paywall) takes aim at coalition Finance spokesman Andrew Robb. He has two lines of attack; both are justifiable but one may be a little unwise.
The first is to criticise Robb's support of the latest piece of coalition cargo cultism - the belief in the opportunity to "develop the North." I actually think the coalition support of this is a little bit of an old David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-30129758536803743552011-10-10T11:07:00.000+10:002011-10-10T11:07:52.664+10:00High speed and computerised tradingInteresting item today by a sociologist on The Conversation about the danger of high-speed trades in stock markets.
It contrasts with other reports of studies that conclude;
Economic research thus far provides no direct evidence that high frequency computer based trading has increased volatility.
Of course, the absence of evidence that high-speed trading increases volatility does not mean David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-87339947296792997732011-10-10T08:59:00.001+10:002011-10-10T09:01:13.910+10:00Social media, marketing and Government engagementI'm a bit of a "social media sceptic". For one thing I don't think social media is a substitute for a well-designed and managed web-presence. I worry about firms who are investing more in their Facebook page than their webpage.
To me that is like spending more time on advertising than the customer experience.
Similarly I'm concerned about crowd sourcing and the tendency for "mob effects" David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-11193427715143354622011-10-07T15:40:00.000+10:002011-10-07T15:40:45.903+10:00Broadbanding AmericaIn a speech US FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has outlined plans for revision to the universal service arrangements to get broadband to rural areas of the USA.
In introducing these reforms he spoke of his visit to Libery Nebraska.
When I was in Liberty, I met with a group of residents at the local American Legion.
The people I met had a lot in common with all of us and all of America. They David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-34630833074766738752011-10-06T08:14:00.000+10:002011-10-06T08:14:56.660+10:00Another note on wirelessSome commentators noting the popularity of wireless devices err in confusing the use of handheld devices with actual mobility.
I made this point briefly in a submission yesterday to the ACCC consideration of the Telstra SSU. I was using download data to demonstrate how little the download is on wireless data devices compared to fixed.
Today I noted a week+ old story that reported the lessonsDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-63590043726077628502011-10-05T21:59:00.001+10:002011-10-05T22:09:31.376+10:00Leadership speculationKristina Keneally made a public appeal to her Federal Parliamentary colleagues under the heading Changing leaders is not the answer for Labor.
I read this just after reading another description that said if the FPLP did change leaders it "will have entered a recently charted, previously unknown, far reach of the Universe, known as the Keneallys."
The current malaise in the ALP, both Federally David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-2781916796051005142011-10-05T06:52:00.000+10:002011-10-05T06:52:49.052+10:00PangramsColumn 8 todayprovided an answer to the question of whether a shorter pangram than "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs" could get as short as 26 - i.e no repetition. I thought it unlikely as there just aren't enough vowels.
They happily advise a 29 letter one that repeats the "i" twice and the "" once...."'Quick wafting zephyrs vex bold Jim."
They also list "Playing jazz vibe David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-29232111146237265142011-10-04T11:28:00.000+10:002011-10-04T11:28:50.260+10:00On Tony AbbottChris Wallace in her excellent BreakfastPolitics today titled Gerard Henderson's column about attacks on Tony Abbott's catholicism as In which I flay Mitchell & wrist tap Costello for sectarianism.
The core of the piece was a critique of Susan Mitchell's book Tony Abbott: A Man's Man. In passing he throws a soft punch at Peter Costello for his column accusing Abbott of being more DLP than David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-42722001620154107062011-10-04T08:34:00.000+10:002011-10-04T08:34:06.897+10:00Another score for fibreIn a piece overly titled "NBN may reduce need for new power plants" iTWire has reported Rod Tucker's comments that though increased internet usage will continue to increase the energy demands of the sector - especially through data centres - the NBN will limit that demand.
In a great line Tucker said "Unlike fibre, wireless is energy hungry."
It would be interesting to undertake a full energy David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-84941733913518509712011-10-04T08:02:00.000+10:002011-10-04T08:02:41.470+10:00What do they teach in science these daysIt is really hard to keep the car on the road when listening while driving and hearing news stories like the one I heard this morning on the 8:30am Triple J news.
An item on a new telescope in Chile cited as the world's most powerful radio telescope concluded that the objects the telescope is looking at "are so far away that the light and radiation is only just reaching the Earth."
I took that David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-75179710233036229372011-09-29T17:13:00.000+10:002011-09-29T17:13:53.955+10:00More on the ABS Internet Activity StatisticsThe old adage referred to in my earlier post on these statistics was the "lies, damned lies and statistics" line. The point being that popularity wasn't just based on subscriber numbers but also on downloads.
The other interesting thing to do is to compare the ABS stats to other data sources.
This release is the first time in a while that the stats have actually given a distribution of all theDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-9108617152520668262011-09-28T17:24:00.000+10:002011-09-28T17:24:17.495+10:00Socialist ObjectiveAs if I wasn't busy enough.
Watching the increasingly idiotic prancing of members of the ALP discussing reform and "Labor values" I've decided it is really time that the ALP's socialist objective gets analysed once again. That really is its values and they are not often enough espoused.
So I've started another blog called Socialist Objective. I'm hoping I might find other authors interestedDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-51780920952275677972011-09-28T13:13:00.000+10:002011-09-28T13:13:14.091+10:00New statistics - old adageAs I foreshadowed the ABS has today released the Internet Activity in Australia data that updates us a year on the ACCC report released last week.
Not that you'd know immediately from the media release which was titled "Mobile wireless connections more popular than DSL". This raises the important question of what we mean by "more popular". What they go on to say is there are now more wireless David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-21567357542471190072011-09-28T11:43:00.000+10:002011-09-28T11:43:26.971+10:00Josh Gans sets the challengeJoshua Gans seems very pleased that his whole interview with Alan Jones went to air.
He made a point that no submission to the ACCC has said "Gans and Hausman are idiots". That is true - my comments thus far have been reserved for my iTnews column titled When smart people say dumb things.
Meanwhile other submissions in the same proceedings are reported to claim that Telstra's separation David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-57328090614367689852011-09-27T09:17:00.000+10:002011-09-27T09:17:18.318+10:00Life imitates artThe ACCC has prosecuted a group of firms for selling ads in magazines that were never to be produced.
That business model was part of Wayne Hope's ABC TV comedy Very Small Business.
I wonder which came first - the satire or the actual business?
Novae Meridianae Demetae Dexter delenda estDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-88866083605998229432011-09-26T16:10:00.000+10:002011-09-26T16:10:42.999+10:00Stirrings on the left and another think tankSo the ALP Left is finding its voice supposedly through a new website launched last night. Unfortunately I can't find the website. The news reports are all about a campaign to reinvigorate the party rank and file - but direct election of delegates to National Conference achieves nothing without reducing the union block vote.
Meanwhile Paul Howes is reportedly launching a new think tank called David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-8898402856818561882011-09-26T13:58:00.000+10:002011-09-26T13:58:56.033+10:00Italian 4G Spectrum "auctions"News reports that Italy has raised 2.6B euros for the sale of its 800 MHz spectrm (digital dividend) with only three of the four existing operators being successful. The auctions for some remaining 1800 GHz and 200 Ghz along with all the 2.6 GHz will resume this week.
In bidding to Friday the 2.6 GHz has raised under 500 million euros. The relativity between the two bands woon't really be David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-62593108959381794542011-09-26T11:33:00.000+10:002011-09-26T11:33:24.445+10:00The re-reporting of statisticsThe ACCC for some reason is not particularly quick at getting its reports on telecommunications out.
Last week it announced that its 2009-10 Telecommunications reports had been tabled in the Parliament.
Why the ACCC needs fifteen months from the end of the year to get this out hasn't been explained. They do have to do some work on price indices using data they can only obtain at 30 June, butDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-81520461341830937372011-09-26T09:45:00.000+10:002011-09-26T09:45:33.450+10:00Neo-liberalism and moralityTwo items in the SMH this morning on different topics both point to the failings of neo-liberalism.
Paul Sheehan lays the blame for our economic crisis on the privileged and profligate generation known as the baby boomers . Alexander McCall Smith elsewhere blames the bad behaviour witnessed in the London riots on moral pluralism - the idea that there is no such thing as a general right or wrongDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-58697679493674763402011-09-23T16:13:00.000+10:002011-09-23T16:13:32.306+10:00NBN PricingI provided a detailed analysis of the coalition claims about NBN prices today for iTnews. I step through each of the three claims made, the one based on a top od the range ADSL vs NBN prices from Internode, the bottom of the range comparison for iiNet and the mythical 5% price rises.
I also touched on the underlying issue of people unable to comprehend how that much capital can be spent withoutDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-14479352280283285222011-09-23T11:45:00.000+10:002011-09-23T11:45:43.619+10:00The ALP does listen to meGreat little video on Tony Abbott by the ALP
However, I take the credit. I blogged the idea on 22 August! (And the clip includes a news item dated 28 August).
Novae Meridianae Demetae Dexter delenda estDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-44046589635138184332011-09-23T10:19:00.001+10:002011-09-23T10:49:36.041+10:00France 4G spectrum "auctions"As Australia's radiocommunications regulator the ACMA announces the use of a convoluted auction system for the 2.5GHz and 700MHz bands the French regulator has completed and allocation of the 2.5 GHz band (which they call 2.6GHz).
While the Australian auction is tagged as the 4G auction, there is nothing that actually ties the frequency to the technology. This is actually a benefit as we've David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-71340960335629376852011-09-23T09:40:00.000+10:002011-09-23T09:40:21.164+10:00FostersIn a whimsical article in the Age Keith Dunstan bemoans the sale of Fosters. Asking where did it all go wrong he lays the blame at making all the beers taste the same.
Certainly the end of localisation in beers changed the way the global brewing business operated. But that perhaps followed the growing trend for more frequent internal migration and overall more general international travel.
IfDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-30836630927344682002011-09-21T11:33:00.000+10:002011-09-21T11:33:00.966+10:00SmartphonesI'm a bit slow but just got sent the link to this video of an ad by T-Mobile.
Angry Birds in the flesh is hilarious. But it raises for me two questions. Why is Angry Birds so popular? Is this the right way for a network operator to promote smartphones?
The popularity of all cultural objects - songs, movies, TV shows and computer games - is a perplexing field. No "expert" can accurately David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-91212646141261193702011-09-21T11:02:00.000+10:002011-09-21T11:02:44.248+10:00When will parliament catch-upSo the NBN joint house committee met last night. I didn't tune in - Tuesday night is bridge night and that is very important for my mental well-being.
Ry Crozier did an excellent job of commentary on the proceedings which has made me wish I could review it myself. But Hansard takes time to type up (for committees, never for the Parliament itself ... why is that?). But in this day and age you David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-34034386930964598652011-09-20T13:29:00.000+10:002011-09-20T13:29:53.783+10:00Google and anti-trustMy paper for this year's Communications Policy and Research Forum is titled Competition Policy for the Digital Economy. One factor that motivated the topic is how so much of new economy business consists of very distorted market structures with single very large firms and certainly nothing like the many small firms of competition theory.
Google is now having its turn in the spotlight, as the David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-35308963094904543322011-09-20T11:31:00.000+10:002011-09-20T11:31:14.723+10:00Time for clarity on irregular arrivals and refugeesAustralia has a tiny problem in relation to "irregular arrivals" in its territory. The combination of having no land borders, the vast sea distances and very effective border processing at official points means we do not have the same kind of issue as many other countries.
The few boat arrivals we have tend to be on our far flung territories like Christmas Island which are closer to other David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-58265418068815434132011-09-19T12:46:00.000+10:002011-09-19T12:46:56.553+10:00The Media Inquiry - 3It is truly remarkable the extent to which the history of media policy or the economics of media can be misconstrued.
Today Bruce Guthrie asserts that the Keating/Hawke media ownership law changes were what permitted the Murdoch acquisition of the Herald and Weekly Times. This is sheer nonsense because Federal law doesn't control how much print media anyone can own - only how much David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-10300909021834366292011-09-19T11:29:00.000+10:002011-09-19T11:29:49.653+10:00NBN price plansIt is extraordinary how much focus individual NBN price plans are receiving in the market. The only thing more extraordinary is the diverse commentary.
The release of iiNet's plans had itWire writing "Anyone who thought that NBN would bring ubiquitous cheap broadband to Australia may have had their hopes dashed with the announcement of the new offerings from iiNet." They went on to say though "David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-53427683403957799652011-09-19T11:03:00.002+10:002011-09-19T13:35:35.622+10:00Telstra and brandingWell, Telstra is going multi-coloured.
I want to discuss the three themes in the clip in reverse order, being mission, promise and brand.
Telstra's advertising strap line "It's how we connect" is explained with the video saying "Connection is important to every single one of us. After all we can't be human on our own." This is going to be very powerful for Telstra if they can simply get David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-70525715908348683152011-09-16T10:16:00.000+10:002011-09-16T10:16:18.758+10:00The Media Inquiry - Part 2In the SMH this morning Richard Ackland writes
Of course, this is not the first time the print media has been disturbed by officials taking a peek under its skirts. The inquiries of recent human memory both concerned Fairfax, the publisher of this organ.
In March 1992 a House of Representatives select committee produced a report called ''News & Fair Facts - the Australian Print Media Industry'David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-82842890788003926662011-09-15T15:41:00.000+10:002011-09-15T15:41:44.712+10:00The origin of "Confusopoly"The Surgeon of Crowthorne is an absolutely fabulous book about a mad doctor who was a major participant in putting together the original Oxford English Dictionary.
That dictionary was significant as the first that tried to cover previous as well as current uses and try to identify earliest uses of words. Unlike other dictionaries of the era it was a descriptive rather than proscriptive work.David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-69925804684192964672011-09-15T11:02:00.001+10:002011-09-15T11:02:53.393+10:00The Media InquirySenator Conroy's media inquiry will at least go at least part way to the issues that I blogged recently were relevant.
It clearly addresses the question of complaint mechanisms. Andrew Bolt was actually right to note that not everyone could ring John Hartigan, like the PM could, to complain about the Milne article. Someone did pose though the question of whether the ACMA is any less toothlessDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-50731267554832184002011-09-14T17:53:00.001+10:002011-09-15T11:09:14.872+10:00When smart people say dumb thingsAs if having Michael Porter blather on about HFC wasn't bad enough, Josh Gans and Jerry Hausmann have contributed to the ACCC consideration of the Telstra SSU.
They maintain it is anti-competitive because of the deal on HFC (not to be used for broadband) and the deal on 4G (not to be promoted by Telstra at time of copper shut down as an alternative).
They first draw conclusions based on David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-70764615943238926102011-09-13T15:23:00.000+10:002011-09-13T15:23:31.138+10:00Marketers destroy social marketingInside the mark comms teams of telcos there is great excitement about the firm being followed by a person with lots of followers - the implication being that such people are "incluencers".
What fun to see then that you can buy followers. Great to boost your "profile" to look influential. The way I found out about the site was by reading about a person who started following me today. The last David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-5102164651606000902011-09-13T13:52:00.000+10:002011-09-13T13:52:12.171+10:00BOF's gift to the NSW ALPThe great Rodney Cavalier identified a long time ago that the major flaw in the ALP is the position of affiliated unions as a controlling influence at conferences, and hence elections to the Administrative Committee etc.
Rodney has for a long time advocated for the disconnection of the unions from party governance. I've noted recently other calls for this. I've also noted the damage that comesDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-36657729852273537662011-09-12T10:42:00.000+10:002011-09-12T10:42:37.746+10:00Sept 11 TruthersI can't countenance the habit of using the perverse US system of representing dates to refer to the events that took place in the Eastern USA ten years ago. 9/11 is the 9th of November!
Using 9/11 is as bad as the use of 911 in TV shows so that some Australians don't know to ring 000.
Anyhow, my issue here is with "truthers". The Punch has today run an item in which one truther makes his caseDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-22472856104148807812011-09-06T17:55:00.000+10:002011-09-06T17:55:20.132+10:00Publication milestoneI've had letters published in the AFR, the SMH and the South China Morning Post. I've had a mention in Column 8. I've been a commentator on Crikey and have my iTnews column.
I've asked a question in person on Q&A. But last night was the latest - one of my tweets in Q&A made it on air;
If Aust taxpayer money is being spent I want the best price not Australian support #qanda
Is this a big David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-57195885235072115702011-09-06T15:33:00.000+10:002011-09-06T15:33:29.836+10:00"reflective of a lazy regulatory attitude" AAPT and NBN CoI am generally an NBN fan. I am a fan of the concept of an FTTN network, I am a fan of the structural separation it delivers and I am a fan of the idea of a Government enterprise delivering it.
There is no real foundation for the perception that Government enterprises are less efficient and effective than private sector ones. A colleague has kindly recently made some observations on David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-18471971834710710392011-09-06T11:45:00.002+10:002011-09-06T17:35:02.723+10:00Telstra ongoing embarrassment from its CEDA foray - UpdatedOne of the observations Dr Phil Burgess made to me about Australia was the lack of engagement by Australian business in political debate. He set about changing that.
Most particularly he made it clear to think tanks and research institutes that he was only interested in funding organisations that supported the views that Telstra espoused.
The Committee for the Economic Development of David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-35701045157986494622011-09-06T10:05:00.000+10:002011-09-06T10:05:52.626+10:00Media standardsCheck out the latest from News Limited. A piece today is headed Labor MP Craig Thomson wanted to resign but party wouldn't allow him.
The first four paragraphs read;
THE Labor MP embroiled in the union credit card scandal told confidants he wanted to quit politics but the party wouldn't let him, sources claimed yesterday.
Close colleagues of former Health Services Union chief turned MP David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-13727581947463317592011-09-05T15:37:00.000+10:002011-09-05T15:37:06.986+10:00Incomprehensible twaddleWow. Crikey has posted this leaflet doing the rounds in Albo's electorate.
Cute that it looks to be unauthorised election material - but that's a minor issue.
The biggest rant is about the pay packets of MPs and their superannuation arrangements. The anonymous writer might like to note that Tony Abbott is on the same employment conditions as Albo. He might also like to know that the David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-18339463584148689562011-09-05T13:53:00.000+10:002011-09-05T13:53:09.811+10:00sports anchor - here I comeThanks to Crikey's video of the day for giving me hope I could still be a TV sports anchor
Novae Meridianae Demetae Dexter delenda estDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-82052982407955222042011-09-05T13:10:00.000+10:002011-09-05T13:10:24.379+10:00Repeating myself on the ALP and LeadershipAhh Joe Hildebrand, having spent weeks trying to make the Craig Thomson matter into a crisis that it is not, now blames Labor for its timidity. He seems to think they should launch a pre-emptive attack to make any election a carnage, or that it should surrender meekly.
More reasoned is the view coming from Malcolm Colless, that canvasses the options and considers that the only two credible David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-91212810612748166332011-09-05T12:41:00.001+10:002011-09-05T12:41:36.450+10:00Communications and Stakeholders - Part 2It was way back in 2003 that I think I first formally tried to catalogue a firm's stakeholder matrix and start capturing details of engagements and strategies.
I tried to maintain it as a Word table but it was unwieldy, hard to update, hard to extract from and hard to establish linkages (e.g. which stakeholders did other stakeholders listen to).
Simple CRM software would help a little, being a David Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081346.post-70749879509155450592011-09-05T11:21:00.000+10:002011-09-05T11:21:19.711+10:00Communications and stakeholdersSo soon after NBN Co bungled its restructure - leaving it to a leak of the internal e-mail - Internode has done the same thing.
Both share the position of not being listed and hence don't have the discipline of needing to inform equity markets in an orderly fashion. This is what results in a process at listed firms of major restructure communications being staged through notices provided to theDavid Havyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10843396871891422509noreply@blogger.com0