Mark Pownall

SHORT-TERMISM has something of an Orwellian ring to it, so I reckon it's appropriate to blame it for undermining the free-market economy.

Alcoa has shelved the proposed expansion of the Wagerup alumina refinery in Western Australia, estimated to cost approximately $3 billion, amid weakening demand and volatility in financial markets.

THE past and the future combined in the present to hit stockbroker Patersons Securities' profitability.

AS the credit crunch hits real estate investment trusts, the spotlight has turned to the strength of Victorian-based Becton Property Group, which has a number of holdings in the central business district - including a stake in 111 St Georges Terrace.

FINANCIAL services may be a dirty word to most as the global turbulence slams this sector harder than most, but that hasn't stopped automotive parts group Capricorn Society Ltd from cranking up its own offering to the market.

One year after Wesfarmers secured Australia's largest takeover, the investment market is unsure of the company's prospects.

RUMOURS of the death of consulting engineering appear to have been greatly exaggerated.

INDEPENDENT property valuers, Christie Whyte Moore and Valuation Partners, have merged to form what they claim is Western Australia's biggest property valuation company.

AS someone who prefers small perfectly formed objects as opposed to monolithic structures, when it comes to business, the government's decision to carve up two Labor-created super departments is something I'd generally welcome.

THERE has to be some advantage in being the only chink in otherwise wall-to-wall Labor governments across Australia.

THE time taken to pay trade creditors has increased substantially across the country, blowing out 7.

IF media attention and headlines are anything to go by, then Brendon Grylls is very much the most influential of the new ministry surrounding Premier Colin Barnett.

IT MAY be little more than a corporate shell but the assets of failed online video company ReelTime Media Ltd have sparked a long-running and expensive legal tug of war over control of the entity.

IN with the new and out with the old.That is how outsiders expect the world of lobbying works when a government changes.

POLITICS wouldn't be the same without ideological differences, even within the governing party.

SOMETIMES the leader is made for a crisis, and sometimes the crisis makes the leader.

LIKE many people, I've been bombarded by views on the financial meltdown, some via email and others through the news, offering analysis about what has taken place and what the landscape may look like in the future.

THE inner court of Colin Barnett is a small and select group, according to those that watch government closely.

ONE of Perth's best known restaurateurs Albasio La Pegna is to take over premises formerly occupied by the iconic Bellissimo Cafe which he founded almost two decades ago on Bay View Terrace in Claremont.

STRATEGY, psychology, risk assessment - the card game of bridge sounds like the perfect accompaniment to the political career of David Wawn.

CENTRAL Perth's high rents are forcing long-term tenants to rethink their accommodation needs.

AS the global economy reels under the shock of the credit crisis, it's interesting to see how the blame game transpires, especially those voices quick to condemn capitalism as the root of the problem.

THE Western Australian government has started the formal process of selecting a new chief for the Department of Premier and Cabinet, even though the widely tipped winner - Peter Conran who was until a year ago in the inner sanctum of John Howard's prime m

A LOW-PROFILE fibre network born out of a failed state government investment has emerged as the backbone of Leighton Holdings Ltd's efforts to extend its national high-speed data network to the Perth marketplace.

WHEN it comes to advertising sectors, it doesn't come much more competitive than insurance, especially in the major consumer markets of motor vehicles and homes.

INVESTMENT banker Aaron Constantine said he laughed with a colleague when he saw two boats moored out at Marjorie Bay on Rottnest Island last week.

THE Royal Automobile Club of WA has revealed it paid $104.

HISTORIC statistics have only limited value in the context of an unprecedented market meltdown, nevertheless there is some comfort in knowing the economic position before the latest chapter in the slowly unfolding crisis.

WHAT a difference a year makes.October, the traditional time for market crashes, is also when I make for Rottnest on an annual holiday.

SINCE I wrote my piece on Tony Sage a few weeks ago, two of his companies - Cape Lambert Iron Ore Ltd and International Goldfields Ltd - have lodged annual reports.

THE roll call of Western Australian businesses directly affected by the global credit crunch grew suddenly during the past week, with several listed companies changing their plans in response to the meltdown on Wall Street.

LEIGHTON Holdings Ltd has emerged as one of the most active buyers of small Western Australian businesses in the past year, paying more than $22 million for three service organisations that expanded its footprint in Perth and the South West.