Interest, Usury and the Common Good
Introduction: Is there a problem with interest? Making money out of lending money has generated moral controversy since ancient times. …
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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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Adam Smith and Why He Matters Today
Adam Smith, the Scottish philosopher and economist, is one of the most significant figures to have emerged from what came to be known as ‘the Scottish Enlightenment’.
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Debunking Degrowth
In a country with a growing population, such as Australia, a policy of degrowth would require declining employment and rising unemployment, with its related costs in social welfare and social ills such as crime and homelessness, among others.
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A Future Without Future Funds
In 1984, Milton Friedman reminded us that “there is nothing so permanent as a temporary Government program”. And so it …
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The Return of Inflation: What It Means for Australia
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.
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The End of Monetary Policy?
Monetary policy is not the answer to our economic problems; and central bank actions could be making matters worse. This …
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A Fiscal Vaccine for COVID-19
The fiscal response to the Covid-19 crisis ensures that the federal and state governments will experience large budget deficits and …
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Millennials and Super: the case for voluntary superannuation
As a result of house prices increases, it has become much harder to save for a deposit and, as a result, homeownership percentages among younger workers have fallen. Superannuation, particularly future increases in the guarantee rate, is one of the reasons it is harder to save for a deposit.
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I, Mechanical Pencil: Why a socialist economy can never work
Socialism brings poverty and oppression. The ignorance of so many as to why only a market economy is capable of …
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Just how independent is the Reserve Bank?
It will be interesting to see whether the RBA’s paralysis will be successful in taming inflation. It doesn’t have a …
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‘Greedflation’ myth hides real causes of inflation
With much fanfare this week, the ACTU initiated an “Inquiry into price gouging and unfair pricing practices” to be chaired …
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Wages can be a great threat to taming inflation
Reports this week that inflation has again increased to 6.8% for the year to April 2023 are grim reading for …
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Labor and Treasurer Jim Chalmers have a long way to go to address inflation
This week’s economic statement from Treasurer Jim Chalmers has answered some pressing economic questions. First and foremost, inflation will remain …
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A mini budget soon after the election could reset Australia’s economic outlook
This week’s economic data was definitely a mixed bag for the government, at least from a political perspective. It was …
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How to reverse Whitlam-sized growth in government
The day before news broke that inflation had surged to 5 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that …
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Wages growth boost would boost government’s election hopes
This week, the Reserve Bank increased interest rates by 0.25%. This comes in response to last week’s ABS figures that …
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RBA needs to do more to boost economy
Last week the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates to zero and said it would pump an extra $100 …
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Why the price of cheap money will always be too high
Next Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to reduce the cash rate to another record low. Monetary policy in …
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Increasing JobSeeker not an open and shut case
Should there be a permanent increase in unemployment benefit (now called JobSeeker)? There is widespread support for it, but is …