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Through our superannuation funds, we are all exposed to what happens on the stock market – whether in Australia, on Wall Street or around the world. So what may seem an arcane corner of the finance world matters for our retirement savings.
Take the financing of the AI build-out. In this strange world, more than half the funding for AI companies comes from other AI companies – whether chipmakers such as Nvidia, or the tech giants that own ChatGPT and Claude.
The same firms act as financiers, suppliers and customers of each other in a complicated and circular dance.
Their lofty valuations could come crashing down if real demand for AI products from business or consumers falls short of expectations. As finance experts Ruipeng Liu and Sagarika Mishra write, the current moment has echoes of the 1990s telecoms boom – before the bust.
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Victoria Thieberger
Business and Economics Editor
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Ruipeng Liu, Deakin University; Sagarika Mishra, Deakin University
What’s not clear is how much of this AI boom is being driven by real, end-user demand — and how much might be a bubble.
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Megan Willis, Australian Catholic University
Yet victim-survivors often don’t or can’t access mental health care.
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Victoria Fielding, Adelaide University
No country is an island when it comes to potentially harmful content online.
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Jacqueline Boaks, Curtin University
We should pause and think about what we would want if our death was being filmed and our dignity or privacy were at stake.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
By directly acknowledging the seriousness of One Nation’s support, Chalmers is underscoring that the party is a threat to Labor, not just to the Coalition.
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Nancy Cushing, University of Newcastle
Pigs, camels, rabbits and many others were brought to Australia deliberately as valuable species. But we see them very differently once they become free-roaming.
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Trevor Mazzucchelli, Curtin University
When parents have different approaches to raising children, who’s right? Research suggests the answer matters less than how they handle their disagreements.
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Sarah Austin, The University of Melbourne
The second annual Shopfront Youth-Led Conference was designed by young people for young people. They wanted to talk about ‘redesigning success’.
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Politics + Society
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Claire Timperley, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Richard Shaw, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
Vote splitting and parliamentary overhangs are not unheard of in New Zealand elections. But making them a deliberate campaign tactic is different.
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Ameeta Jain, Deakin University
Housing crises across advanced economies are reshaping political loyalties, but which parties reap the rewards is hard to predict.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
The former treasurer and deputy Liberal leader said he’s still deciding whether to make a political comeback, which he’ll announce in the new year.
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Health + Medicine
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Robin Gauld, Bond University
Voters should look for long-term health policies that address workforce shortages, improve access to primary and specialist care, and include early intervention.
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Yasmine Probst, University of Wollongong; Olivia Wills, University of Wollongong
Your muscles need fuel during exercise, and during sustained mental effort your brain needs energy, too. What you eat, and when, can affect how you feel and perform.
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Ben Gray, University of Otago; Hoani Smith, Lincoln University, New Zealand; University of Southern Queensland; Phil Borell, University of Canterbury
Māori and Pacific people carry a disproportionate burden of preventable disease. Concerned voters should look beyond parties’ headline pledges on health.
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Environment + Energy
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Aditya Sengupta, The University of Melbourne; Andrew King, The University of Melbourne; Josephine Brown, The University of Melbourne; Mandy Freund, The University of Melbourne; Nicola Maher, Australian National University
The El Niño climate pattern has long influenced weather across the globe.
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Science + Technology
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Kate Marie Quigley, James Cook University
The first estimate of coral egg numbers across the Indo-Pacific shows which species can help rebuild devastated reefs.
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Arts + Culture
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Thomas Cooper-Johnson, University of Newcastle; Nicholas Foulcher, University of Newcastle
As sea levels rise, Tuvalu is creating opportunities for its people to migrate to Australia. But the places left behind are still full of cultural history.
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Philip C. Almond, The University of Queensland; Brendan C. Walsh, The University of Queensland
The 1971 film is soon to be re-released as a full director’s cut – its controversial lost scenes finally revealed.
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Books + Ideas
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Oscar Davis, Bond University
Plato’s dialogues show that learning takes place through the to-and-fro of reflective thought – much of learning is finding out what we don’t know.
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Your Say
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In response to your article 'Pacific climate voices were clear and strong this week – and we’re listening’, I think there’s a total failure from the powers that are. To accept 1.5 degrees warming is to accept defeat and sentence our children and grandchildren to a very uncertain and unsafe future. There’s technology and knowledge to change this trajectory. What is lacking is the will and the vision.
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I usually enjoy your articles, value The Conversation as an independent source of information, and financially support it. However, I find it offensive and imprecise when authors use 'Canberra' as shorthand for the Australian government, conflating a city and its residents with government decisions. With 35% or less of Canberra’s workforce employed by the Australian government, this oversimplification risks unfairly alienating residents who, like millions of other Australians, are simply citizens affected by those decisions. I encourage your editors and authors to use more accurate language when referring to the Australian government and its actions.
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Lisa
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