The Real Excess Burden: an overarching approach By Bryan Kavanagh Disclosures I’m not a fan of economists who are able to equate the rent flowing from land with the returns to manufactured capital without experiencing a frisson of self-reproach. That…
Treasury is asking why the Petroleum Resource Rents Tax collects only a fraction of the revenues it could. Actually, they know exactly what is wrong, but need public consultation in case someone has a bright idea to fix this broken…
The West Australian state election March 11 will be quite a fight. The few opinion polls suggest a handsome victory to the McGowan ALP opposition. ReachTEL has 55-45 two party preferred and Newspoll 52-48 in favour of Labor. Minor parties…
Damien Perrottet, deputy to the new NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, is retreating from the former Baird government’s plan to sell a 35 year lease of the NSW land titles register. NSW’s conservative government is ahead in the polls – and…
The calls for tax reform come thick and fast – like hammer blows upon the Turnbull government, on its knees praying for a recovery in public opinion. The AFR today gave Australian Institute of Company Directors CEO Elizabeth Proust the…
by Philip Soos reposted from The Guardian Australia’s historically high and rising housing prices are widely debated and have prompted a number of government inquiries into housing affordability. The question stands open: is housing affordable in Australia? Affordability is often…
The Western Australian election 11 March will be a furious battle, but don’t bother with the popcorn – the ALP led by Mark McGowan is set to win easily and the fireworks of One Nation will prove a damp squib.…
A great way to bury an unwelcome government report is to release it into the alcoholic haze of a hot Australian Christmas. Infrastructure Australia’s Capturing Value paper is too important to suffer this fate: who pays for the infrastructure we…
Do you see the cat? Read on. THE PROGRESSIVE ERA Americans apparently consider the Progressive Era (1890s to 1920s) belongs to them. The period was driven by the reformist ideas of Henry George as taken up by public officials across…
Last month, the Productivity Commission delivered a damning assessment of Australia’s productivity performance over the last 12 years in the discussion paper Increasing Australia’s future prosperity. They asked for submissions with fresh ideas. Prosper has a few: • Attack rent…