How much does the Herald pay its economics editor to keep him happy? Not enough

Ross Gittins becomes a dismal science sceptic and finally discovers contentment

Ross Gittins in The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday:

IT'S said the one thing economists agree on is: incentives matter. Trouble is, most economists assume the only incentives that matter are monetary. The underlying assumption of both sides is that the job of governments is to continually raise our material standard of living because this is what will make us happy. The economists' model assumes we work only for the money it brings us. But if work is a primary source of our happiness -- as the evidence says it is -- why not encourage employers to see the provision of secure, satisfying work as an end in itself, a primary reason for the existence of the business?

Kevin Rudd in The Monthly in February 2009 on the shocks to capitalism:

FROM time to time in human history there occur events of a truly seismic significance, events that mark a turning point between one epoch and the next, when one orthodoxy is overthrown and another takes its place.

The SMH yesterday:

SYDNEY does not believe capitalism is the only system that can save the planet. Before last night's IQ2 debate, 41 per cent of the audience disagreed with the motion, "Only capitalism can save the planet". Afterwards, 47.5 per cent agreed with the motion and 43.2 were against.

Head to head in the battle of empathy. Julia Gillard, July 12:

I KNOW what it's like to have a dad who has to work two jobs and a mum who has to do the afternoon shift to buy a home and educate their children.

Tony Abbott in the leaders' debate, July 25:

MY wife, Margie, and I know what it's like to raise a family, to wrestle with a big mortgage, with grocery bills, with school fees.

Gillard on ABC1's Q&A:

I'M the first prime minister to know what it's like to be a woman. I don't think you're going to suggest John Howard knew that.

Unrequited love. Community forum in western Sydney yesterday:

WOMAN with short-cropped red and blue hair: I'm a taxpayer, a law-abiding citizen and I want to be able to say to the woman that I love, "Will you marry me?" not "Will you civil union me?"

Gillard: I can understand that perspective. But what I'm saying to you is what I have decided and what the Labor Party has decided.

Announceable. The Daily Telegraph, July 6, 1998:

A $1.4 BILLION rail line will be built from Parramatta to Chatswood to provide the "missing link" in Sydney's public transport system. Transport Minister Carl Scully said: "For too long the people of Sydney's west have been denied easy access to major centres such as Macquarie University."

Reannounceable. The Daily Telegraph, December 14, 1999:

TRAINS on the new $1.4 billion Parramatta to Chatswood rail link will run every six minutes during peak times.

"This is a milestone because it is our final plan for the rail link and sets out the route it will take," Mr Scully said.

Denounceable. The Sydney Morning Herald, August 22, 2003:

THE government's five-year-old transport promises are in tatters, with the planned rail line from Epping to Parramatta killed off.

Announcing his 10-year plan to redesign the CityRail system yesterday, Transport Services Minister Michael Costa ended any doubt over the future of the proposed $1.2 billion line. It has been deferred indefinitely.

And announced again. ALP statement yesterday:

A RE-ELECTED Gillard Labor government in partnership with the NSW government will build the Parramatta to Epping rail link, a clear missing link in Sydney's rail network.

The project is an important step towards improved transport for western Sydney, finally providing the missing link between Parramatta and Chatswood.

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