Author Archives: I am Spartacus

Dear Cats. For reasons more varied and complex to detail here, this will be Spartacus’ last post. Spartacus is retiring from blogging from this august site and elsewhere. What started as a brief rant about something or other led to … Continue reading →

To paraphrase the great Thomas Sowell, the Australian Superannuation system is not really about the retirement income of the masses. It is about the income of the financial services elites. Even the 1980s ABBA song Super Trouper had a prescient … Continue reading →

Well, well, well.  The news coming out about the ABC shenanigans continues. Kevin Rudd calls for a Royal Commission into the ABC. Former Chairman and former advisor to Gough Whiltman, James Spigelman, has been advising Michelle Guthrie. But honestly, is … Continue reading →

What do you call a collection of people who bend, bypass and break established rules, norms and standards? The answer my friends is the Democratic Party of America. Trigger warning, this post is about US politics, a subject Spartacus generally … Continue reading →

Why did the Labor Politician cross the road? To increase their taxes as well. Of course. Let’s just get something straight. By virtue of inflation, that wonderful thing the Treasury and RBA likes to keep bubbling away, the absence of … Continue reading →

What a debacle.  What an absolute debacle. If there is a textbook case study in poor governance and organisational design, ABC is it.  Dis-functional board.  Sub-par CEO.  Insubordinate staff.  Bloated bureaucracy.  Rent seekers at 20 paces. Can it get any … Continue reading →

If it was not real, you would think it a joke.  What’s worse is that it happened in 2011, 7 odd years ago, before the world went really insane. What is Spartacus talking about?  This: Pub singer arrested for racism … Continue reading →

It never ceases to amaze what passes for political discourse and policy discussion. Further to Spartacus’ earlier post about the calls for further identity quotas comes this gem from Professor Doctor Van Onselen: I’m in favour of gender quotas in … Continue reading →

It seems that quotas for women MP is not the end of it.  Now there are calls for the next wave; quotas for gay and indigenous MPs.  Who would have thunk it possible. Reported in the Australian: Bill Shorten is facing … Continue reading →

A well written take down of Joseph Stigliz by Gene Epstein: Continually Mistaken, Chronically Admired That title is almost as good as the famous quote by Robert Buzsel of Harvard Business School that: The mark of a true MBA is … Continue reading →