Gorillas In The Mist. How government obscures its spending
Executive Summary Government overreach: The federal government’s planned $78 billion of off-budget measures over the next four years reflects an …
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Land Use Restrictions and the Australian Housing Policy Debate
Planning restrictions are a major reason why housing in Australia is so expensive. For example, they are estimated to raise the price of the average apartment in Sydney by 37%.
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Submission to the Inquiry into financial regulation and home ownership
Regulation of the financial system is needed to protect depositors and avoid financial crises. However, current financial regulations go beyond these legitimate objectives to prevent mutually advantageous loans.
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Government spending and inflation
That government expenditure in Australia has grown apace in recent years is well-known. The growth became gargantuan during the coronavirus pandemic. However, to a less dramatic extent, it was happening before the pandemic — and has continued since it ended.
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Business Means Business. Why Corporates Should Avoid Social Activism
Senior management should be concerned they are putting their companies at risk of reputational harm if they associate with movements that are, or become, viewed negatively by the general public.
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Budget Fails Important Policy Tests
The deficit budgeted for 2024-25, amounting to over $28 billion ($28,000 million), translates to a willingness to borrow and spend over $1,500 per Australian voter to secure an election victory.
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From Measuring to Merely Meeting: Productivity Commission misses mark on Closing the Gap
Why, despite decades of expenditure on Aboriginal affairs, do solutions to ‘Closing the Gap’ in life outcomes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people remain elusive?
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Submission to the inquiry into the Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions and Other Measures Bill
Submission to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee in relation to its inquiry into the Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions and Other Measures Bill.
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Impact of a Shadow Carbon Price on our Electricity Bills
This paper estimates that including VER as a class of market benefit could enable the approval of additional projects worth up to $508 billion, should proposals to eliminate all emissions be enacted today.
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The six fundamental flaws underpinning the energy transition
This paper focuses on the question of how Australians have been led to believe two false claims: that renewables are the cheapest and that the cheapest version of a renewables-dominated system is to be built.
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The true lesson Aussies should learn from Trump’s victory
Since the US election result confirmed Donald Trump would re-enter the White House in triumph, Australian commentators and politicians have …
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It couldn’t be more obvious why Qld regions abandoned Labor
Queensland Labor’s embrace of progressive policies popular with the urban elite meant it had abandoned the regions.
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This book changed the world. The West needs to read it again
The Austrian economist and intellectual Friedrich Hayek was a victim of cancel culture long before the term entered the political …
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Capital gains cracks return to haunt Labor
Labor’s obsession with negative gearing and capital gains tax changes has reared its head yet again. The latest version has …
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Negative gearing barely affects the price of houses in the market
As a rule, if you tax something more you will end up with less of it. This is a well-worn …
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The fundamental problem with government’s housing reforms
The government has dialled up the rhetoric about its housing reforms being blocked by the Senate, but the primary effect …
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Government spending needs reform before taxes
I would like a dollar for every time I’ve read how much the Australian economy needs tax reform. Sure, it …
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Facts are smashing the government, not the RBA
The government’s low-key campaign to influence RBA decisions on interest rates flared into open conflict this week. The Treasurer vented …
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There are two ways to lift our living standards. Coasting isn’t one of them
News this week that the iron ore price has fallen to the lowest level in several years has economic commentators worried.
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Déjà voodoo economics
Ah, politics—the ancient and mystical art of convincing people that 2 + 2 can, in fact, equal 5 if you just believe hard enough.
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Government spending and inflation explained | Emilie Dye
Government is shooting itself in the foot when it comes to inflation. While the RBA works to lower inflation by …
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The simple solution to FIX the housing crisis | Emilie Dye
What is behind the housing crisis in Australia and across the world? Research Analyst Emilie Dye, drawing on the work …
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How to tackle Australia’s housing crisis one state at a time | NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey
Sydney is home to some of the least affordable housing in the world, placing immense pressure particularly on young people …
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Has Easy Money Destroyed the Free Market? | Ruchir Sharma
Watch as Tom Switzer sits down with renowned financial analyst, commentator, and investor Ruchir Sharma for a thought-provoking discussion on …
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Support CIS Research in 2024
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The NDIS is out of control | John Kehoe
The Australian economy has performed better than most economists predicted a year ago. However, probe deeper and things look disturbing. …
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Will economic growth destroy the planet?
Will economic growth destroy the planet? The debate over whether economic growth will ultimately lead to the destruction of the …
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Decoding Science: Navigating Imperfections, Truths, and Challenges in COVID
CIS welcomed Matt Ridley for a thought-provoking discussion on the critical role of Government in shaping climate, health, and energy …
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Bracket Creep Explained: The hidden tax cutting into your earnings
Bracket Creep Explained: The hidden tax cutting into your earnings. Bracket creep chips away at living standards, especially those of …
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Free to Grow: Unlocking Economic Prosperity
On Tuesday, 26 September CIS hosted a special evening featuring Professor John Cochrane for a lecture and conversation with economist …
Frequently Asked Questions
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) structure makes mistakes likely. It concentrates responsibility on one fallible individual, the Governor, answerable to a Board of non-experts, with little requirement to explain or defend decisions in detail. Arguments are subject to little scrutiny, either internally or externally. More fundamentally, the RBA has a culture that places a low priority on getting the answers right. As a result, mistakes are frequent, persistent and costly. Among several examples, the RBA recently placed higher priority on stabilising household debt than on its conventional goals of unemployment and inflation. Previously, it targeted the current account deficit. Read more ...
Inflation is rising around the world, the sting in the tail of the pandemic economic stimulus packages unleashed by governments in 2020. The narrative thus far is that this inflation spike is transitory, even if a little more persistent than first thought. It is expected to moderate as consumer price pressures ease and markets rebalance after the large positive demand shock and surge in consumer spending of the past 18 months. Read more ...