The World Today

Many people might think that democracy is the right system because it is the fairer, most just order, delivers the best outcomes for the most people, but does it actually make us happier? Ethicists and data scientists have been studying the correlation between happiness and democracy for years and have found that indeed there is a strong link between the two. Ethicist Matthew Beard has been looking at these issues, correlating three indexes on happiness, wellbeing and democracy.

An increase in Australian investors wanting their retirement funds to go into the stocks of ethical companies means change is afoot within the nation's finance industry. The latest move has come from AMP Capital, which has announced it's banning investment in companies that manufacture tobacco, cluster munitions, landmines and biological and chemical weapons. Now there are suggestions that this could be the start of a new trend in ethical investments.

Most parents would do anything to keep their child healthy - but what if that meant handing over $250,000 a year, every year, for the rest of their lives? That's the position parents of those with cystic fibrosis currently find themselves in, because a life-changing medicine is yet to be included on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Advocates are now calling for medicine reimbursement system to be adopted in Australia - where drug companies are only paid for the medicine when it is found to have worked.

The latest official data show Australia's unemployment rate has risen to 5.9 per cent. A total of 6,400 jobs were lost in February. Encouragingly over 27,000 full time jobs were created in the month, but that was overwhelmed by over 33,000 part-time job losses.

The Federal Government is announcing a multi-billion-dollar plan to expand the Snowy Hydro scheme, to provide more reliable power storage. It describes the plan as a 'game changer', which will make power supplies more reliable. But in an extraordinary intervention the South Australian Premier, Jay Weatherill has described the plan as an 'insult'.

The plan has been greeted with a mixed response today with supporters of the proposal calling it an clean, green solution to the nation's looking energy shortage. But some experts warn the expansion of the hydro-electric scheme won't be a 'magical panacea' and point out it's an old idea previously ruled out as being too expensive. Today it's also been called a 'thought bubble' that will never happen.

Residents in the Snowy Mountains have reacted positively to the Government's planned expansion of the hydro scheme, although there are some fears over the role the New South Wales government will play in the complex cross-border project.

What's been dubbed the world's largest virtual power plant has been 'switched on' in Adelaide. One thousands homes and businesses across the city will eventually be interconnected, to improve security of supply to individual properties and the grid, as well as reduce power bills.

The US Federal Reserve has raised interest rates for the second time in three months, a move spurred by steady economic growth, strong job gains and confidence that inflation is rising to the central bank's target. But Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen says Donald Trump's economic polices did not influence the decision to move rates higher.

For the first time, economists have calculated the cost of homelessness in Melbourne. They've found that finding emergency housing for Melbourne's homeless population would be significantly cheaper than leaving them on the streets. And that governments would make massive savings if they invest in proper accommodation for people sleeping rough.