Category Archives: Bargains

The last man in Europe: waiting to be read in a bookstore near you!

Posted on July 31, 2017 by Nicholas Gruen

I’ve known Dennis Glover since we were both staffers in Parliament during the Hawke-Keating years (I was there in 1981, 83-4 and 1991-3 until just after the ‘sweetest victory of all’ in 1993 which with hindsight I wish John Hewson … Continue reading →

Posted in Bargains, Best From Elsewhere, History, Literature, Philosophy, Political theory | 2 Comments

Strategic plans and adjunct professorships

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Nicholas Gruen

Some time ago I was written to by an Australian University asking me to become an Adjunct Professor in Journalism. This is an honorary position so, (paradoxically) it’s not much of an honour! In any event, this is how the letter I … Continue reading →

Posted in Bargains, Blegs, Bullshit, Humour | 14 Comments

Free, freemium and cheap services to help run your office

Posted on May 17, 2016 by Nicholas Gruen

Lateral Economics has had occasion to compile a list of free, freemium and cheap services to help run your one person micro or several person small business. I post it here for your interest and because it may be useful to you. The latest … Continue reading →

Posted in Bargains, Blegs, Economics and public policy, Innovation, IT and Internet | 2 Comments

Political debate as culture wars: A TripAdvisor for the arts

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Nicholas Gruen

As I’ve argued elsewhere, most public debates on policy – and I suspect on pretty much everything else – tend to take place as culture wars. In a culture war the ‘sides’ are well defined – usually mapping pretty well … Continue reading →

Posted in Art and Architecture, Bargains, Economics and public policy, Innovation, IT and Internet, Journalism, Politics - national | 10 Comments

Bored with reinvention of the superficial kind?

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Nicholas Gruen

The earlier ad was removed from YouTube. It was even schlockier than the second one I’ve put up here, but until I can find the other one again, it will now have to do. So are we here at Troppo – not to … Continue reading →

Posted in Bargains | 12 Comments

Lest we forget that Woolworths are the fresh food people: Troppo competition

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Nicholas Gruen

Woolies and its marketers plumb the depths of vileness. Apparently they’ve taken it down with a delicious non-apology. It “regretted” it had caused offence. File next to corporate pedophilia under “The banality of corporate exploitation”. Anyway, it’s a worthy subject … Continue reading →

Posted in Bargains, Cultural Critique, Humour | 12 Comments

Fair trade coffee: so much more (or less) than it seems, depending on your point of view

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Nicholas Gruen

From the latest Journal of Economic Perspectives Fair trade coffee is a cup half full, according to Raluca Dragusanu, Daniele Giovannucci, and Nathan Nunn in “The Economics of Fair Trade” (Summer 2014, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 217–36). We are … Continue reading →

Posted in Bargains, Economics and public policy, Ethics, Philosophy, Political theory, Politics - international | Leave a comment