By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland
Most Australians have probably noticed the proliferation of tobacconists and “convenience stores” in the last few years. These stores aren’t making much from the limited offerings on public display. Rather, their profitability comes from under-the-counter sales of untaxed tobacco and illegal vapes.
The growth of illegal tobacco sales has reached the point where the national accounts produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) have been significantly distorted. The ABS has announced it is taking…
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By Melinda Hildebrandt, Education Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University
Anne Walstab, Senior Research Fellow, Mitchell Institute/Centre for International Research on Education Systems, Victoria University
Sarah Pilcher, Director, Peter Noonan Policy Impact Program, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University
A new report looks closely at who uses the ATAR, who doesn’t and what that means for students and universities.
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By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne
The clock is ticking for the Commonwealth government to strike a new hospital funding deal with state and territory governments before its end-of-year deadline.
While states and territories are responsible for running Australia’s public hospitals, funding is split between the Commonwealth, and state and territory governments. The proportion of funding the Commonwealth contributes is at the centre of negotiations.…
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By Derek Lemoine, Professor of Economics, University of Arizona
Ashley Langer, Professor of Economics, University of Arizona
Bo Guo, Associate Professor of Hydrology, University of Arizona
An innovative study mapped preterm births, low birth weights and infant mortality to municipal water wells downstream from PFAS-contaminated sites. The results show the high cost of PFAS harm.
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By Torkel Klingberg, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet
Samson Nivins, Postdoctoral Researcher, Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet
The digital revolution has become a vast, unplanned experiment – and children are its most exposed participants. As ADHD diagnoses rise around the world, a key question has emerged: could the growing use of digital devices be playing a role?
To explore this, we studied more than 8,000 children, from when they were around ten until they were 14 years of age. We asked them about their digital habits and grouped them into three categories: gaming, TV/video (YouTube, say) and social media.
The latter…
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By Naomi Lightman, Associate Professor of Sociology, Toronto Metropolitan University
Home care is essential to Ontario’s health- care system, but its failures are offloaded onto underpaid personal support workers — mostly racialized immigrant women —who often work in unsafe conditions.
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By Paul Allan, Associate Head of Academic Operations and Quality, Sheffield Hallam University
Amr Saber Algarhi, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Sheffield Hallam University
Britain’s jobs market appears to have entered a “low-hire, low-fire” freeze, creating stagnation that could affect everyone from school-leavers to professionals. But unlike recessions characterised by mass layoffs, this scenario represents a market in which workers cling to their jobs while newcomers find the door shut.
The number of job vacancies paints a stark picture. For 39 quarters in a row, they have…
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By Vivian Ho, Professor and Chair of Health Economics, Rice University
Salpy Kanimian, Ph.D. Candidate in Economics, Rice University
Health insurance premiums in the U.S. significantly increased between 1999 and 2024, outpacing the rate of worker earnings by three times, according to our newly published research in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Premiums can rise if the costs of the medical services they cover increase. Using consumer price indices for the main components of medical care – such as services provided in clinics and hospitals as well as administrative expenses – based on federal…
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By Andrew Gawthorpe, Lecturer in History and International Studies, Leiden University
The Trump administration is highly critical of Europe in its national security strategy, while barely mentioning the threats posed by rival great powers.
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By Frances Myatt, College Teaching Associate (Peterhouse), University of Cambridge
Even if you haven’t heard of Ovid, you almost certainly know some of his stories. His most famous work, the Metamorphoses, is a Latin epic poem composed of hundreds of tales of mythical transformations, many of which are still being told and retold today.
Take Ovid’s story of the sculptor Pygmalion, who crafted an impossibly beautiful woman from ivory. After falling in love with his own creation, he prayed to the goddess Venus and she brought the statue to life. You can trace the echoes of this story through…
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