World of Finances

Australia is a vast country; in fact, it is the sixth largest country in the world with a surface area of some 7.7 million square kilometres. The nation is blessed with an abundance of raw materials and is the world’s leading exporter of coal, supplying nearly a third of global needs. It has a population roughly a third that of the UK at just over 22 million people and a workforce of approximately 12 million people. Unemployment in Australia is currently at the 5% mark.

Demand for raw materials, notably from China has surged, helping Australia to emerge from the global financial crisis earlier than any of the other democratic economies. The government has just voted through a contentious tax on the profits of the mining companies which comes in at a whopping 30% (it had been negotiated down from 40%).

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Customers say, We were smitten from the beginning If you have an idea, don’t push it to the back of your mind and mutter that you will do something about it some other time. Act immediately! Great ideas don’t come around that often. You may never have another great idea. If you have one, use it now!   The idea This week Sara Blakely, 41, was honored. The 25th annual Forbes Magazine ‘rich list’ credited her with “re-inventing the girdle”. Her simple idea of developing underwear to banish bulges by shaping and controlling the figure was embraced by women worldwide. Blakely, married with a son, came up with the idea at age 27 after getting fed up at the way her tights stuck to her skin in the heat and humidity of her native Florida. She cut the feet off and wore them under cream trousers. Sounds simple, huh? It is simple. Really simple. Anyone could think of that, you say. Agreed. Full Article…

I’m giving away twelve (12!) Moonjar Moneyboxes. If there’s a child in your life who needs to learn about money, this is a great tool. The three-part cardboard bank allows kids to divvy their cash among three categories: save, spend and share.

To enter to win, leave a comment here on my blog (not my Facebook page).

Click on the tab above this post that says “comments.” Make sure to include your email address, which won’t show up with your comment, but I’ll be able to see it.

If you haven’t commented before, it may take a little while for your comment to show up since comments are moderated. But rest assured, it will.

The winners will be chosen at random Friday night. Over the weekend, please check your email (including your spam filter). If I don’t hear from a winner by noon Pacific time on Monday, his or her prize will be forfeited and I’ll pick another winner.

Also, check back here often for other giveaways.

The deadline to enter is midnight Pacific time on Friday.

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Quick links to a few items I found interesting.

Bassam Fattouh, Lutz Kilian, and Lavan Mahadeva have a new survey of academic studies of the role of speculation in determining oil prices. From the paper’s abstract:

A popular view is that the surge in the price of oil during 2003-08 cannot be explained by economic fundamentals, but was caused by the increased financialization of oil futures markets, which in turn allowed speculation to become a major determinant of the spot price of oil. This interpretation has been driving policy efforts to regulate oil futures markets. This survey reviews the evidence supporting this view. We identify six strands in the literature corresponding to different empirical methodologies and discuss to what extent each approach sheds light on the role of speculation. We find that the existing evidence is not supportive of an important role of speculation in driving the spot price of oil after 2003.

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