Peter Martin is the best political columnist in Australia today. Hands down. The Sydney Morning Herald and the TheAustralian would do well to imitate his style, subjects and approach.

Peter has another fascinating article, this time on research to determine if people take external effects into their purchasing. This is compared to Australians when polled saying they would prefer better services to lower taxes - to which the political policy is, no; you will have lower taxes and like it.

Personally I believe in both. However, a analogous study was done in NY where fair trade products were tested against different price points. The study's authors found that sales increased as the price was increased. (more)