The Money

Germany's economic dominance as Europe's biggest economy is in danger. A new book argues that the weaknesses have been brewing for decades, leaving Germany over-reliant on Russian gas, too focused on old industries and unable to adapt to the digital realities of the 21st century. 

Guest: Wolfgang Munchau, former Financial Times associate editor, and author of Kaput: The End of the German Miracle, outlines the myriad economic problems and a possible way out. 

Kaput will be published by Allen and Unwin on February 4, 2025

And the Federal Government has decided to mandate keeping cash available for essential business, but this will come at a cost to small business.

Guest: Steve Worthington, Professor at Swinburne University of Technology

Donald Trump's economic agenda is clear: less taxation and regulation; more tariffs. But some of his programs will require a lot of money, which means America will need to borrow more. Those borrowings and the impact of tariffs will affect small, open trading economies, like Australia.

Guests

Professor Susan Stone, Credit Union SA Chair of Economics, University of South Australia

Win-Li Toh, Principal, Taylor Fry

Australians fork out much more on dental care than any other kind of health care. Which is why increasingly, people are delaying or skipping dental care, and 27% of kids aged between 5 and 10 had untreated decayed or missing teeth.   

So should, or could dental care be brought under the Medicare umbrella, and what might this cost? 

Guests:

Peter Breadon, Program Director for Health and Aged Care at the Grattan Institute

Dr Angie Nisson, Board Member of the Australia Dental Association and Clinical Director of Oral Health in Northern NSW

Dr Elizabeth Deveny, CEO of the Consumers Health Forum of Australia

One of the factors determining how people vote is the economy, and while America's is doing incredibly well right now, consumer confidence has slumped and most Americans are not feeling at all happy.  

Guests: 

• Betsey Stevenson, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan
• Robert Armstrong, US Financial commentator at the Financial Times
• Christopher Rugaber, covers the US economy and Federal Reserve for Associated Press

There's a seismic change heading our way that will drive up electricity and water usage and it has to do with the uptake of generative AI, including Chat GPT. 

Giant tech companies are investing in nuclear power for their AI-fuelled race, however data centres also need clean, drinking-quality water. 

Guests:

Ben Geman, energy reporter at Axios.com and the author of the daily Axios Generate newsletter, covering the world of energy business and politics.

David Berreby, science writer based in New York

Gordon Noble, Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney

Obesity and associated health problems cause a significant burden on health systems, but should weight-loss drugs be offered under our PBS just for weight loss?  

In Britain, there is to be a trial of the weight loss drug Mounjaro, that will also seek to measure the economic impact of those benefits.  Britain's Health Minister argues that weight loss drugs will be '"life-changing, help them get back to work and ease the demands on our NHS". 

Guests:

Dr Norman Swan, co-presenter of ABC Radio National's Health Report, and the podcast 'What's That Rash?'

Jonathan Karnon, Professor of Health Economics at Flinders University

Nial Wheate, Pharmaceutical Chemist and Professor of Academic Excellence at Macquarie University 

And the Albanese Government this week announced a crack down on unfair and excessive card surcharges, promising to get a better deal for Australians and small business.  The declining use of cash and the rise of electronic payments means more Australians are getting hit by often hidden surcharges.  

Guest:

Brad Kelly, Co-founder of the Independent Payment Forum

The continuing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have horrified the world with the loss of life and devastation, raising the question, what's the cost of weaponry? World military expenditure surpassed $US2.44 trillion for the first time in 2022. 

Latest available figures show at $US916 billion, the US spends the most and it's also the world's largest exporter of weapons. Also US spending on Israel's military operations and related US operations in the Middle East this year total $22.76 billion, and that is only a partial figure. So how are some of these sums broken down?

Guests:

• William Halsortung, Senior Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and author of Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military Industrial Complex
• Siemon Wezeman, Senior Researcher in SIPRI's Arms Transfers Program. (Stockholm's International Peace Research Institute)
• Dr Marcus Hellyer, Head of Research at Strategic Analysis Australia

In a new economic analysis of religions, Paul Seabright argues that religions are not the antithesis of economics, instead he likens them to competing businesses, attracting people by providing services such as community and a greater sense of meaning in life. 

The Divine Economy, published by Princeton University Press

Guest:

• Paul Seabright, teaches economics at the Toulouse School of Economics. Prior to that he was a Fellow of All Souls College at the University of Oxford. 

Australian's love affair with paying by card - and not cash - has now surpassed 90% of transactions.  And each time we tap our card, the merchant incurs a cost that's passed onto you, the customer, to the tune of billions of dollars a year.

So who gets the money? As part of a Review of Retail Payments Regulation, the RBA is expecting the industry - the banks, card companies and payment terminal companies - to cut processing costs by using what's called 'least cost routing'.

• Brad Kelly, Managing Director of Consulting Company, Payment Services
• Wes Lambert, CEO of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association

The ACCC is seeking significant penalties for Coles and Woolworths in the Federal Court, alleging they systematically misled customers with their 'Prices Drop' and 'Down Down' claims. 

• Neil Rechlin, Partner at NextGen Group

The recent Senate Economics Reference Committee chaired by Andrew Bragg, delivered an extremely critical report on the performance of the corporate regulator, ASIC. It was recommended that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission be split into two bodies to address a perceived lack of competence.

Guests:

• Andy Schmulow, Associate Professor in the School of Law at the University of Wollongong
• Dr Jason Harris, Professor of Corporate Law, Interim Deputy Dean and Interim Deputy Head of School at the University of Sydney Law School

What's our environment worth? In 2025, the ABS will release its first set of national data to measure the value of our ecosystems, across terrestrial, freshwater and marine realms. 

Guest: 

• Penny Johnson, Head of the Centre of Environmental Accounts at the Australian Bureau of Statistics