The current account, fiscal policy, and medium-run income determination

This article presents a new framework for analyzing the simultaneous determination of current account imbalances and the path of national income. Using standard macroeconomic behavioral relationships, it first examines how and why current account deficits matter by investigating links between domestic consumption, government spending, output, saving, investment, interest rates, and capital flows. Central to the model is the distinction between aggregate output and expenditure that enables dissection of the effects of discretionary fiscal change on the current account and national income. The framework yields results relevant to the twin deficits hypothesis that are contrary to those of standard models.

Older Volunteers Participating in a University Research Registry: Helping Others My Age

This paper discusses a study that examined why older people volunteer for a research registry based at the University of Queensland, Australia. A mailed questionnaire was utilized to explore a list of reported motives developed from an in-depth qualitative phase. An exploratory factor analysis of the findings was conducted, which showed that there were four main motivations for respondents to volunteer in this context. These motives were to make a contribution to society and to research; to be involved in research; to meet others; and to be informed about the university environment. These findings show that older research volunteers have a strong interest in university research outcomes and demonstrate a commitment to aging productively. There are lessons here for researchers and policy-makers, who need to develop additional ways to involve older people in the research that affects them.

Think global, act global: Corporate content streaming and Australian media policy

Australia ’s media policy agenda has recently been dominated by debate over two key issues: media ownership reform, and the local content provisions of the Australia–United States Free Trade Agreement. Challenging the tendency to analyse these issues separately, the article considers them as interlinked indicators of fundamental shifts occurring in the digital media environment. Converged media corporations increasingly seek to achieve economies of scale through ‘content streaming’: multi-purposing proprietary content across numerous digitally enabled platforms. This has resulted in rivalries for control of delivery technologies (as witnessed in media ownership debates) as well as over market access for corporate content (in the case of local content debates). The article contextualises Australia’s contemporary media policy flashpoints within international developments and longer-term industry strategising. It further questions the power of media policy as it is currently conceived to deal adequately with the challenges raised by a converging digital media marketplace.