Much of the discussion about the need for tax reform to preserve intergenerational equity is confused. The main challenges facing young people, in particular, are the limitations on the supply of housing and climate change. (more…)
Category: Economy
-
Best of 2025 – Labor says its second term will be about productivity reform. These ideas could help shift the dial
In his victory speech, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese highlighted social policy as a major factor in Labor’s electoral success, particularly Medicare, housing and cost-of-living relief. He was justified in doing so. (more…)
-
Best of 2025 – An economic reform agenda for Labor
The recent election was won by looking ahead. But a better economic future requires an economic reform agenda, and getting agreement will not be easy. However, there are encouraging signs that the government is up to the task. (more…)
-
Best of 2025 – Who’s afraid of big, bad China?
Be afraid, be very afraid. But not of China. To the contrary, the proper management of co-operative relations with China is essential to Australia’s future. (more…)
-
Shrinking East Asia needs a safety net
East Asia has led the global recovery since the pandemic, but deep welfare imbalances are now threatening the sustainability of its growth model. (more…)
-
MYEFO leaves the hard work on inflation, debt and budget repair undone
The latest MYEFO shows only marginal improvement in the budget outlook, while deficits persist and fiscal settings continue to complicate the Reserve Bank’s task. (more…)
-
Why Australia’s pro-globalisation consensus endures
Australia’s post-pandemic politics may look more divided, but fears of a rising populist backlash are overstated. Demographics, institutions and economic geography still anchor the nation’s long-standing consensus in favour of openness, migration and global integration. (more…)
-
Western Australia is rich, but it’s not the economic powerhouse it claims to be
Western Australian politicians claim the state is the “powerhouse” of the national economy and deserves an outsized share of GST revenue. The ABS State Accounts for 2024–25 tell a different story, revealing a decade of weak growth, falling per capita output and a system that rewards WA despite clear under-performance. (more…)
-
Senate committee on disinformation should look into the Liberals’ energy policy: It is full of it
The Liberal Party’s new energy policy recycles discredited claims and fossil fuel talking points, undermining public trust and delaying the essential task of real action.
(more…) -
Five reasons Trump’s economy stinks and 10 things the Dems should do about It
The Trump economy is truly awful for most Americans. Democrats need to show America that they can be better trusted to bring prices down and real wages up. (more…)
-
Migration myths
Migrants aren’t to blame for expensive houses or stress on infrastructure: in fact they’re making more contribution to our shared assets than Australians. (more…)
-
‘A national humiliation’: Australia at bottom of new renewables ranking
As the Coalition abandons net zero, Andrew Forrest has quietly moved on not just to net zero, but to real zero. (more…)
-
China planning ahead with 15th five-year plan
In business, the five Ps are often referenced: “Poor preparation prevents proper performance.” That extends to planning a national economy. (more…)
-
Arms industry infiltrates National Press Club
More than a quarter of the National Press Club’s sponsors are part of the global arms industry or working on its behalf. (more…)
-
To fix the economy, fix housing
Australia’s economy is in a post-pandemic slump. To dig us out, state and federal governments must tackle the chronic shortage of housing in our biggest cities. (more…)
-
Computer still says no to Queenslanders wearing seatbelts
The ACT Government has just announced that from 3 November, “ACT traffic cameras will detect and issue infringements for seatbelt offences”. (more…)
-
The new political economy of innovation: Why Australian policymakers need better tools
When the Commonwealth Government reorganised its innovation responsibilities for the fourth time in a decade, public servants made jokes about updating their email signatures again. (more…)
-
Practical, equitable … cute? Labor’s free solar plan sparks call for more electrification and flexibility
The federal energy minister’s plan to make electricity free for three hours in the middle of each day for customers on the default market offer has made a big splash in the energy world, and sparked calls for more electrification and demand flexibility. (more…)
-
In memoriam: The slow death of the Quad
Quietly, but surely, life is ebbing away from the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad). (more…)
-
A United States that is disintegrating and no longer a leader in Asia
The second Trump administration has transformed US foreign policy, with immediate implications for economic and security ties with Asia and long-term implications for regional and global order. (more…)
-
A dangerous trifecta
Amid the world’s many troubles is the growing possibility of a combination of the bursting of a bubble, a major government and corporate debt crisis and the possibility that a popular investment strategy — lifecycle investing or borrowing to invest — will all implode at the same time. (more…)
-
Fatal flaws: what regional Australians need to know about cash plan
There are fatal flaws in the federal government’s draft cash mandate regulations and they can be traced back to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s refusal to respond to Senate recommendations to fix the banking crisis in regional Australia. (more…)
-
Taking from the young, giving to the old: How our tax system is letting us down
Australians are retiring with unprecedented levels of wealth. This wealth, which is primarily held in housing, investment properties and superannuation, allows retirees to draw incomes to support their retirement. (more…)
-
‘Forget subsidies’: Solar-battery hybrids can deliver ‘incredibly competitive’ power for big industry
The developer of what stands to be Australia’s biggest battery says the new breed of hybrid solar and storage projects, starting to dominate the national renewables pipeline, can power new and existing industrial energy needs at an “incredibly competitive” cost – and without government handouts. (more…)
-
Trump’s IMO veto exposes Australia’s maritime blind spot
Protecting Australia’s sovereignty was a central justification for Anthony Albanese’s critical minerals deal with Donald Trump. (more…)
-
South Korea, Canada and a middle-power submarine: Can Australia join?
Sometimes, middle-power enthusiasts get overly excited about the potential for said states to work together. It’s almost as if you want to see those “little guys” grab the ball and run it all the way to the try line — or the end zone, for you Americans. (more…)
-
Game, set and match to the property industry – unless we change everything
The contradiction at the heart of Australian politics has never been clearer. On the one hand, the Albanese Government has rediscovered the language of national renewal of making things again, of manufacturing revival, of “A Future Made in Australia”. (more…)
-
COP30: Amazon rainforest destroyers
-
The fog of electricity price disinformation
The federal government should collect and make available data that shows comparative wholesale electricity costs on a global basis and where Australia sits. This information should show average spot prices, average industrial prices. (more…)
-
ASEAN leads response to the threat of global economic disorder
Malaysia and ASEAN’s leadership in response to rising protectionism and the threat to ASEAN and global prosperity and security has so far been a masterclass, punctuated by the convening of a Leaders’ Meeting for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on 27 October 2025. (more…)