http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/joshua-gans/ Joshua Gans is Professor of Management (Information Economics) and Director of the Centre for Ideas and the Economy at the Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne. He has been at the Melbourne Business School since 1996. Prior to that he was at the School of Economics, University of New South Wales. Joshua holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University and, 1990, received the University Medal in economics from the University of Queensland. He is also Managing Director of, economics consultancy, CoRE Research. While Joshua’s research interests are varied he has developed specialities in the nature of technological competition and innovation, economic growth, publishing economics, industrial organisation and regulatory economics. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-buy-my-book-for-fathers-day/ Fathers Day - or in our house Feathrs or Farthers day depending upon the cards I received last year - is nearly upon the kids. Last year I got lots of cards - approximately 8 by my count. I don’t have that many children nor did I discover I had some I didn’t know about. Instead my known children were extremely productive; to the tune of 2.67 cards per child. What is more, they were all self-made. We now have a rule at home that Hallmark holidays should mean that no money should be spent that would go anywhere near Hallmark. That means everything is made. Not only did I get the cards but several paintings and a treasure hunt. The last one was imaginative but, ultimately fast, because my then 6 year old son organised the whole thing but didn’t have the patience to wait for me to decipher his clues and took me straight to the treasure. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Joshua Gans) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-buy-my-book-for-fathers-day/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-buy-my-book-for-fathers-day/#item1115 Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:17:09 +0000 Joshua Gans | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-the-ets-could-cost-you/ In 2007, Chris Goodall contended that walking may cause more environmental harm than driving. A noted that a 5km drive would add 1kg of carbon to atmosphere while a walk would seemingly add nothing if you just looked at its direct effects. However, Goodall contended that for many people, they would need more energy to sustain a regular 5km walk. To make up the 180 calories would likely generate 3.6kg in carbon emissions. The trade-off wasn’t even close. What is significant is that Goodall wasn’t some member of an anti-environmental think tank but himself a strong environmentalist and the author of How to Live a Low-Carbon Life. And it was he who was suggesting, contrary to one of Al Gore’s dicta in An Inconvenient Truth, that substituting driving for physical transportation might not be environmentally-friendly at all; even if it is friendly to your physical health. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Joshua Gans) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-the-ets-could-cost-you/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-the-ets-could-cost-you/#item985 Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:45:06 +0000 Joshua Gans | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/harry-potters-uneasy-relationship-with-academia/ Last weekend marked the launch of the sixth in the now eight-part movie saga that is Harry Potter. As is surely apparent by now, the movies sit not as a substitute for the books but a complement to them. They succeed where they can visualise magic that cannot be done in words - the creatures, the castle and a large part of the action. But they fail where the books have their most significant: in the complex characters and the deeper moral issues. But in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince one of those deeper but unstated moral issues arose neatly and somewhat humorously in the movie: the role of academia. It came in the form of Professor Slughorn, a marvelously imagined character who is a teacher who cares only about the best in the class and seeks them out to the exclusion of all others. He, in turn, is a character that is perhaps the most instrumentalist of at least the “good” guys in the saga. Slughorn, at various points, commits self-interested acts claiming “academic purposes”. For instance, he is caught removing valuable leaves from a plant, claiming their scientific merit but we know being motivated by the black market value. That, however, is not where this issue comes to the fore. It is hard to describe it without giving away too much of the plot but Slughorn cites the very same “academic” disclaimer when handing over clearly dangerous knowledge to a young Voldemort. Slughorn later clearly realises his error and attempts to cover his tracks but the message is clear: there is a danger to the academic shield. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Joshua Gans) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/harry-potters-uneasy-relationship-with-academia/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/harry-potters-uneasy-relationship-with-academia/#item741 Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:35:10 +0000 Joshua Gans | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mad-furore-surrounding-the-so-called-peoples-bank/ A few days ago, I was part of a group of 6 economists who wrote an open letter arguing for a new Inquiry into the financial system—a so-called “Son of Wallis, Daughter of Campbell.” Put simply, so much had changed in our understanding of finance, banking and economics and so much ‘on the fly’ policy had been undertaken, that surely stepping back and reviewing our policies above the political fray would be a good idea. We had hoped that this might get a little media and perhaps push the government into putting an inquiry onto the agenda. Our letter was a long and not particularly reader-friendly affair. But towards the end we asked the following: feedback@thepunch.com.au (Joshua Gans) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mad-furore-surrounding-the-so-called-peoples-bank/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mad-furore-surrounding-the-so-called-peoples-bank/#item604 Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:35:12 +0000 Joshua Gans | Author bios | The Punch