Corporate America Owes the Rest of Us $87 Trillion
Switching to renewables is expensive, but it will cost the US much more to stick with fossil fuels
The latest clue comes from those known lefty rabble-rousers at the, uh, University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Booth finance professor Lubos Pastor and two Wharton researchers recently estimated that the social cost of the carbon emissions of US companies will amount to a cool $87 trillion through 2050. That was 131% of the total value of corporate equity at the time they measured and about three times the size of GDP.
Bizarre via alumni Malchkeoun: UTS pays KPMG $4.8m to tell it how to save money
UTS pays KPMG $4.8m to tell it how to save money The consulting firm is also on the hook for “a well-structured and compelling narrative” to help sell the job cutting plan.
PwC dragged into government contracts corruption probe
Maxim Shanahan
May 6, 2025
PwC has been dragged into a major corruption inquiry into the provision of millions of dollars in government contracts to consulting firms with links to the former chief executive of a NSW infrastructure body.
In a six-week inquiry beginning on Monday, public servant Anthony Manning is alleged to have directed a “$20 million project” to a partner at the big consulting firm who was a former colleague and assisted with his application for the chief executive position.
The former School Infrastructure NSW chief executive is also alleged to have dismissed a senior procurement official who raised concerns about PwC’s engagement. he is also alleged to have sanitised an external report, which indicated “significant probity risks” with the PwC arrangement.
The inquiry will examine allegations that Manning engaged in serious corrupt conduct by directing more than $20 million in contracts and engagements to friends and business associates, while taking reprisals against staff who complained about the department’s processes.
A PwC spokeswoman said the firm “had an engagement with SINSW … [which] was led by a former partner of PwC. The partner left the firm in 2018”.
“The firm is assisting the ICAC with its inquiry. Given the inquiry is underway, it is not appropriate to comment further.”
Counsel assisting the commission Jamie Darams, SC, told the inquiry on Monday that PwC hosted a ceremony announcing the launch of SINSW in 2017 and the appointment of Manning as its inaugural chief executive.
Manning had previously worked alongside Amy Brown, who had moved from the NSW public service to become a partner at PwC.
Brown is alleged to have put forward Manning’s name for the role and helped him during the recruitment process for the chief executive position by reviewing his CV and conducting interview preparation.
Brown is not accused of any wrongdoing.
Within three months of Manning’s appointment, PwC and Paxon – another consulting firm run by a former colleague – were appointed contracts to advise the new agency on “delivery models” for school projects.
Manning did not declare a conflict of interest, ICAC alleges.
The public tender process advertised the contracts as fixed arrangements with a limited timeframe. But almost immediately after the contracts were awarded, they were converted to “standing offer arrangements” – allowing for ongoing engagements without a fixed scope or timeframe.
“This arrangement was then used to engage PwC and Paxon to provide a range of additional services with no apparent relationship to … the subject of the original tender,” Darams said in his opening statement.
“To give a sense of the value attributed to the standing offer arrangement by PwC, at one stage the PwC partner referred to it as a ‘$20 million engagement’.”
PwC ultimately made $1.8 million from the arrangement in 2017 and 2018. Paxon made $4 million over four years.
The NSW and Commonwealth governments are slashing spending on public sector consultants, which ballooned before the PwC tax leaks scandal.
Both governments have established their own in-house consultancies, and federal Labor has pledged to cut $4.7 billion from spending on contractors and consultants.
PwC sold its government consulting arm to Allegro funds in 2023 for $1 in the wake of its tax leaks scandal.
Critical report ‘sanitised’
ICAC alleges Manning directed a range of consulting contracts and lucrative external appointments to close friends and business associates.
These include the PwC and Paxon contracts and more than $3 million to Healthwest – a business owned by a close friend and former colleague; $1.7 million to companies owned by a yoga classmate and colleague; and $9 million to a close friend and “strategic adviser”.
ICAC also alleges Manning took reprisal action against colleagues who aired concerns about the department’s procurement process.
The commission will hear evidence about the dismissal of SINSW chief procurement officer, who allegedly was made redundant as part of a “realignment” approved by Manning.
This came after she had raised concerns about the expanding scope of the PwC arrangement.
Manning engaged a separate consulting firm to investigate the complaints made by procurement staff about the PwC and Paxon contracts. An initial report identified “significant probity risks”, particularly in relation to the department negotiating directly with PwC about “substantive and high-value” variations to the original scope contemplated by the tender.
But it is alleged that the report was sanitised significantly after Manning met with its author, and recommendations about probity and value for money were either excised or watered down, ICAC will argue.
The commission is also investigating whether a subsequent contract awarded by Manning to the same consulting firm was a “quid pro quo” for the final outcomes of the report.
The world’s biggest streaming service, Netflix, appears to be immune to the cost-of-living pressures facing Australian consumers, reporting a sharp jump in local revenue to $1.3 billion which was mostly sent overseas to reduce its local tax obligations.
Netflix, which has an estimated 6.2 million subscribers in Australia and is known for TV shows like Stranger Things, Bridgerton and Squid Game, posted a modest $23.3 million profit in the 2024 calendar year, according to annual accounts lodged with the corporate regulator. It made $22 million in profit from $1.1 billion the prior year.
