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Research shows loneliness costs the Australian economy $2.7 billion per year or $1565 per person.

The World Health Organisation has also declared loneliness to be a global health concern. And it’s estimated loneliness has an equivalent health impact on the body to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Before the pandemic older Australians were found to be the loneliest in the nation. But now the data now shows this has shifted and younger Australians are the feeling the effects of being alone and isolated.

Technology has allowed us to be more connected than before, but has all this left us lonelier than ever?

Guests:

Andrew Dempster, Principal Director & Leader of the National Mental Health Advisory Business, KPMG

Roger Wilkins, Professorial Fellow at Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, and Co-Director of the HILDA Survey

Liesel Sharabi, from the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University.

Lixia Qu, Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Institute of Family Studies.

All By Myself: The Economics of Loneliness.

The growth of cyber-crime is considered to be the biggest challenge facing Australian businesses.

Collectively cyber-attacks cost the economy $42 billion dollars last year, with ransomware the most disruptive type of hack, costing $3 billion.

So what is the government doing? And what can organisations do, both to lower their risk of attack, and if the hackers succeed in accessing their systems?

Guests

Nick Espinosa, Chief Security Fanatic, Security Fanatics

Dr Jay Jeong, Senior Research Fellow, University of Melbourne

Dr David Tuffley, Senior Lecturer in Cyber Security, Griffith University

David Cullen, National Director of Advocacy, CISO Lens

Abi Bradshaw, Head of the Australian Signals Directorates Cyber Security Centre

Hackenomics

New research suggests that the increase in vaping across Australia will cost the health system an extra $180 million each year and that’s a conservative figure.

Vaping has been framed as a way to stop smoking tobacco, however it can also be a gateway to taking it up. It’s estimated that 13 per cent of people who vape transition to cigarettes.

The Australian government has called vapes a public health menace and introduced restrictive anti-vaping policies. But are these policies intended to drive positive change giving rise to a dangerous black-market?

Guests:

Professor Louisa Collins, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

Dr James Martin, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Deakin University

Becky Freeman, Associate Professor of Public Health, Sydney University

Puffed out: The Costs of Vaping

Twice a year most Australians are made to deliberately mess with our body clocks. When we go into daylight saving and when we come out.

Many of us love the longer summer evenings. What we don’t love is the sleep adjustment that makes us feel tired, fuzzy and out of sorts.

There are plenty of arguments about whether daylight saving is a good or bad thing.

So in this episode we look at the costs and benefits and whether it’s time to rethink the concept.

Guests:

Dr Thomas Sigler, Associate Professor, University of Queensland

Allison Schrager, Economist & Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute

Dr Yevgeny Mugerman, Senior Lecturer, Bar-Ilan University

Dr Jayanta Sarkar, Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology

The Economics of Daylight Saving: It’s All In The Timing

As we head into Easter you may have noticed the price of your seasonal sweet treats like chocolate bunnies and eggs are a bit higher than last year.

The main reason is the price of cocoa beans or actually, the price of cocoa futures. They’ve skyrocketed by more than 100% in 2024 alone and tripled over the past year.

But why is that and will we be prepared to keep paying higher prices for the sweet stuff?

Guests

Tina Angelidis: Co-Owner, Adora Chocolates

Pia Piggott: Associate Analyst, Rabobank

Professor John Dumay: Accounting & Finance, Macquarie Business School

Paul Zahra: CEO, Australian Retailers Association 

Check out the Chocolate Scorecard:

 https://www.chocolatescorecard.com/

Gigonomics and the Swifties

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