Ummm....and I note your graph projects growth of Citations in International Literature....???
Could be related to economy, but perhaps not a commonly used indicator?
I spent the week at final meetings for a large tender (many 100s millions) for some large project.
They throw in a numerous team, tons of people and support, freebies, and the best prices by far, plus considerable politeness (which the others don't). All that for a so-so product.
At the end of the day, no buyer can ignore a drastically cheaper product that doesn't have major flaws.
Frankly they deserve to win at least as much as their arrogant, inflexible western counter-parts. A certain corp will save many many tens of millions, but more $$$ will leave the country towards China, that's all.
I think this summarises the rising curve on your graph...
Alan Joyce is a deluded fool to think he will be able to either establish
or profit from a Qantas offshoot in Asia.No country will allow it, any more
than Australia would allow a foreign airline to set up here.
At best Qantas will get a minority stake with foreign investors.
This in an already saturated market. Jetstar Asia is surviving by
cross subsidising from the mainline Qantas and a little from slave labour asian wages.
Its a dream of all management to pay rock bottom wages.
When all the jobs are offshored we can all go on the dole.
Ultimately,any companies that survive will pay 100% tax to feed us.
Everybody seems to be siding with either the Unions or Qantas.
I reckon it is a pretty sad state of affairs when all flights of the national airline can be shut down immediately via industrial relations issues. Weather conditions, acts of God, war, may all be more excusable but either employers or employees have a dummy spit is ridiculous.
What next ?
Telstra turning off the phone network ?
Cleaners closing the houses of parliment ?
The police all shut out of their vehicles becuase somebody doesn't want to change an indicator bulb ?
Surely when it got to the postiion of all planes being grounded then the government is the one that failed, failed to foster an industrial relations culture where items of such importance can't be taken so trivially.
Whatever your political persuasions or industrial relations stance, surely the Government has to act to stop it, or anything like it, happening again. Surely Fair Work Australia could have made the ruling of no action for 21 days then an arbitrated outcome, without all the planes having to be grounded first ?
But - I heard Antony Albanese in Question Time saying 'nobody asked us to intervene so we didn't - and it is all Joe Hockey's fault because he told a senate inquiry that he had heard on the radio Qantas was going to close down and didn't do anything about it, and I knew nothing, so there, thats it, no more to say'.
Along with a few treasonable parliamentarians 
By the way, I've heard that Qantas pilot wages make up about 2% of the Qantas operating costs. That was from the head of the pilots union so probably he was underestimating. I haven't heard about engineers but my guess is they would count for less given they get paid less and there are fewer of them on a plane.
So guesstimate maybe 5% overall. If they could cut that to zero (robot planes!), do you think it'd make a huge difference? I don't think so.
Along with a few treasonable parliamentarians
Along with a few treasonable parliamentarians
A certain % of shares of any company should be held by the employee's, this way they are working for themselves and thinking for themselves.
