Are high house prices good or bad for innovation? It seems the RBA are saying house asset inflation is good for Australia, perhaps mainly based around housing stock shortages. Our Executive Director, Christopher Hire, takes a look at property prices impact on innovation, and how they may prevent tomorrow’s employers – today’s start-ups – emerging.

Well when the management consultants say it, it must be close to mainstream. Deloitte calls for manufacturing back to the U.S. in the report, and indeed local manufacturing is critical for the development of innovation. In our view, the internet, fuel prices and supply chain improvements have disrupted cost dynamics, meaning manufacturing of a different sort may be here to stay. Read Deloitte’s take here…

Government 2.0 in Australia is happening. And it represents a once in a life-time reform opportunity, so what does it take… instant messaging, government-wide wikis? Hear from the Government 2.0 Taskforce… What about cultural reform? Are government innovators punished? And, of course, 2thinknow comments…

Research ties between Old World (Europe) & New World (Australia & USA) are important. If you’re from Germany in Australia, please support this research.

NEW! An open-source ethos Melbourne Innovation Club. For Generation X & Y. The price of admission? Ideas & ideas alone!

Super-fast Internet is the new ‘Wealth of Nations’ – enabling innovation competitive advantage & improving destination desirability; failure is not an option.

National Broadband Network, & closer technological collaboration between Australia & Germany are 2 key themes of CeBIT AusInnovate.

COMMENT. Melbourne — A colleague of mine, of mature age, a professional director, told me he does not understand one thing about Melbourne’s directors.
How so many directors keep getting roles with less than stellar performance.
As a competent, good Director, he is mystified.
Shhh…
Of course no-one in the community says this publicly. I am a member of peak body AICD, and never heard it there! Truth begone! Top-down folk there.
With some Directors, often I get the feeling they want to investigate, interrogate you, and pick your brains. That’s if they can’t …

COMMENT, Melbourne — The Rudd Government today announced $6 billion in life support for the local Australian car manufacturing industry.
Manufacturing skills, infrastructure & cars are important.
Rudd’s $6 Billion on the Amex.
The Rudd plan is broadly positive, however it has a large cost. $6 billion to be precise.
One of the problems with Government intervention in the economy is that Governments see costs, and not opportunities. Costs not revenue increase.
It’s unimaginative.
But when I’ve worked for Government that’s what I normally find. Lack of imagination.
Most farsighted ideas will be killed. Or implemented in …

COMMENT, Australia — Nascent trends show that the National (or Country) Party are just about to turn a corner.
Recently the National Party were kingmakers in West Australia State elections.
Now it looks like the National Party may win in the New Zealand elections.
Barnaby’s Voice.
An independent thinker, one of the few who stood up to John Howard, Barnaby Joyce has the leadership & charisma to be a national leader. In 8-12 years.
It may be too soon, and it may not eventuate, but this is an interesting thought.
Trends for the National Party.
Food supply …

Voting machines are unreliable across the United States. How can that be in a major democracy?

VIDEOS, Australia — Yes, Australia has long coveted New Zealand. And now we uncover the secret plan to invade. Thank Agency 303 for the innovative treatment.
It’s from the TV show on ABC, The Gruen Transfer. Made by Andrew Denton’s Zapruder’s Other Films, the show with acerbic Wil Anderson questioned advertising.
Ad & Marketing Trends.
As always, an ad is a story. In order for ads to work in marketing messages, they must become short stories, or place within stories.
Ads that are no-useful to viewers will be screened out. Tivo-ed. Fast forwarded.
Like the …

COMMENT, Australia — A German doctor & his family have been refused a visa for his family to stay in Australia, because his son has Downs Syndrome.

Source: Wimmera Times
Dr Bernhard Moeller was on Channel 9’s Today show with his family. There is an ABC version of the Doctor’s story here and The Age here. The Australian has an excellent piece on it.
This Doctor is the sole source of specialist medicine in Wimmera, a country town. He has been providing medical care for 2 years. Australia has chronic Doctor shortages.
The Doctor …

ANALYSIS, Melbourne — 2thinknow have predicted an Australian recession since 2007.
In October 2007, I indicated 2thinknow’s concerns of recession, in December 2007 I made clear predictions of recession and in February foresaw nationalisation of banks & various other consequences.
It’s worth noting that most commentators using economic predictions were wrong in October 2007-February 2008. None raised nationalisation, nor believed the ASX would go as low as 4500. 2thinknow was a lonely voice in specific correct prediction.
2thinknow take a different view, because we have foresight based on proprietary nascent trend analysis.
And, in …

REVIEWS — SlideShare has created a contest on the Economic Crisis. Tell the crisis in 30 slides, it has over 200 entries. A few entries are good summaries from different views.
Of course 2thinknow entered, given the positive feedback we have been receiving on our  predictions of the crisis.
Today, our “Credit Crisis. The Short Explanation.” slides were spotlighted on the main page of the slideshare.net website.
Pretty nifty profile for a set of slides, we thought. Even better in PowerPoint with the animations. You can download them!
Another one I really liked was …

REVIEWS, Adelaide – Australia is blessed with great airports by US, UK and in some cases, continental European standards.
Most Australian small airports are superior to most North American small airports. Although in larger airport terms, Boston’s Logan or SFO are superior to the large Sydney airport most international visitors experience.

One of Australia’s great smaller airports is the comfortable, practical Adelaide airport.
With crisp clean design lines, comfortable seating, work desk areas for non-lounge members and a good choice of food and shopping, Adelaide airport does it well.
Lounges at Adelaide
The Adelaide Qantas …

ANALYSIS, Australia — Tonight, in Australia, Wayne Swan as Australian Treasurer delivered the first budget of the new Rudd Centre-Left Labor Government.
The budget was solid, economically and fiscally-responsible according to ABC commentators like Alan Kohler. The budget was also politically astute, delivering on the promises made in the last election.

2thinknow Building Innovation Textbook
The budget read from the 2thinknow textbook on economic growth in challenging times, and nation-building of innovation cities and regions:
1) Infrastructure investment – ports, rail, institutions, broadband and roads
2) Productivity driven economics – childcare, flexible industrial relations, education
3) …

COMMENT, Australia – The International Monetary Fund have just said that property prices in Australia, like the UK, are so intrinsically overpriced as to be a high risk to fall.
Long-time readers will know that I have been predicting this fall for some time. Friends will recall I have held the belief that Australian property has been strongly overvalued in recent years.
Why will house prices fall in Australia?
Property in Australia is globally overvalued. It is simply more expensive to purchase or rent an equivalent home here than most other cities …

COMMENT, Melbourne — Yesterday, April 2nd 2008, the Eddington plan for Melbourne & Victoria was released. Like many before it, he calls for more freeways and roads and more money.
$18 Billion Australian dollars, (about USD $16 billion) before the inevitable incompetence, corruption and budget overruns at the implementation stage.

And like so many large projects, political jockeying may lead to a White Elephant. Yet we do have a choice…
Eddington ran airline BA, and is a respected business figure, but perhaps the questions he was asked do not reflect the questions he …

ANALYSIS, Sydney — Property prices in Sydney (and other Australian capitals) are more expensive than almost any city in the world.

New York? Paris? Boston? Vienna?
In general, better value than Sydney, as has been reported in numerous media stories today. Property prices are at 7.5 average median earnings.
And we’re not talking Park Avenue property here, more like Queens.
Sydney suburban Bondi is a sleazy second rate suburb, not comparable to Park Avenue. Yet property is priced in the millions of dollars.
There seems little doubt that Australian capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and …