Expenditure on plant and machinery has traditionally been seen as an indicator of future economic growth and productivity. But in the age of high technology, investment in an economy's knowledge base could be as important. Key areas include investment in research and development, in software and in human capital (measured by expenditure on higher education)...

The well-known electoral pendulum lists seats according to the swing needed for each seat to change hands on either sides of the pendulum. Unfortunately, electoral swings are not necessarily uniform across seats and the pendulum is not a necessarily reliable predictor of election outcomes in particular seats. In this research note Gerard Newman attempts to...

Tony Kryger finds that, in the randomly selected months of July and August 2004, more than twice as many people entered employment from outside the labour force as persons who made the transition from unemployment.

The ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will hold summit meetings in Vientiane, Laos on 29-30 November 2004. The summit will include discussions with leaders of Japan, China and the Republic of Korea (as a part of the 'ASEAN Plus Three' process) and also India. ASEAN leaders will also host a...

For some time, considerable disparity has been apparent in the prescribing of medication for children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in different jurisdictions in Australia. Despite having a smaller population than New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, Western Australia accounts for the highest number of prescriptions dispensed for dexamphetamine sulfate, a drug prescribed to treat ADHD...