---

After tracking the career paths of former Howard Government staffers, Crikey has decided to do the same for ex Hawke and Keating staffers.

Invisible Hands & Markets: Crony capitalism is alive and well in Australia
If this isn't blatant picking of winners and worse, what isn't? Why ban online casinos but not betting exchanges co-owned by the Packers? This isn't the only example of favortism towards the Packers of course, as people familiar with current regulations on free to air commercial TV would realise. Kerry Packer truly is the personification of the evil stereotype of politically connected big business that gives capitalism a bad name. While the US continues to produces visionary entrepreneurs like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Marc Andressen who succeeded mostly on their merits, Australian capitalism continues to be dominated by these vulgarians who succeed through the art of political contacts.
• Aussie Roullette [Jason Soon and Complex Catallaxy]
• · In Archives, Now and Coming Soon at the Southerly Buster you will find priceless analysis together with links to a growing mountain of reports on the preferential trade agreement with the US [Backpages Blog By Chris Sheil also bites into the debate with The FTA: policy vs politics]
• · · In an early article last year Peter Gallaghan criticizes the views of the conspiracy theoriests about the US and the bilateral Free Trade Agreement with Australia: True Believers and Gary Sauer-Thompson [Crikey, Steve Mayne McMullan vs Costello on tax policy release ]
• · · · Ken Parish Counsel for the Cummins estate must be thanking their lucky stars that barristers can't (in many circumstances, anyway) be sued for negligence
• · · · · Troppo Armadillo Wayne Wood on Consumption Tax and the Middle of the Street et al
• · · · · · See Also A Refugee policies in Australia