May 2024
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Industry policy will win votes but very little else
Why not accept the gift of China’s subsidised exports, and use the money we save to deal with our many more serious challenges?
May 2023
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Labor cruises past a missed budget opportunity
Now was the right time for the prime minister and treasurer to put the foot down on the structural deficit, tax reform and productivity.
October 2022
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Lucky Jim knows all the tricks of fiscal politics
The treasurer has sought to impress business and the markets and lock in the cabinet’s compulsive spenders. But is that enough to weather what the world throws at us?
August 2022
- Opinion
- Superannuation
Kill off super for ‘nation building’
Using superannuation to fund national interest projects would help the government with its budget problem. But the risk for funds and politicians is that it would quickly get out of hand.
March 2022
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Will the spendathon do the political trick?
Voters may want more than spraying more money around in a world of slow productivity growth, increased trade barriers, dangerous geopolitics, and stagflation.
February 2022
- Opinion
- Manufacturing
Don’t revert to picking winners
Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese’s sovereign manufacturing policies would deal Australia out of its full share of the coming trade boom in Asia.
May 2021
- Opinion
- Federal budget
How the dream recovery could become a nightmare
If the pandemic resurges, or interest rates rise, Scott Morrison could find out why economists have nagged him to reform the economy.
January 2021
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
Has Biden’s green revolution done Morrison a climate favour?
Joe Biden’s aggressive global agenda gives Scott Morrison the opportunity to get ahead of the game. A politically digestible carbon price is needed to cut emissions at the lowest cost to the economy.
December 2020
- Opinion
- Industrial relations
The big political cost of some small IR reforms
The government has carefully scaled its IR plans as a response to the pandemic crisis. But that may not stop them from getting politically complicated.
November 2020
- Opinion
- US votes 2020
Australia's special interest in Biden's success
Failure to contain the pandemic will damage Joe Biden's authority – and make it more difficult to deal with the key China, climate, and trade policy challenges that matter for Australia.
October 2020
- Opinion
- Federal budget
The budget's missing the political window for economic reform
The government's thrown everything at cushioning the COVID-19 blow. But it's missed the opportunity to use the record debt to get on with supply-side initiatives.
July 2020
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Budget can't do it all as this is no ordinary recession
Fiscal policy alone can't fix a pandemic induced supply-side crisis. This calls for unleashing the economy's productive capacity.
- Opinion
- Emissions
A Biden win would change our climate policy
If a Biden White House imposes a US carbon border tax, Australia would finally be forced to put a price on emissions.
June 2020
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Morrison, ACTU do have common ground
A jobless recovery would be a disaster for the Morrison government and the union movement alike. That should concentrate minds on both sides.
May 2020
- Opinion
- China relations
Anti-dumping action rips off consumers for political advantage
When Australian companies cut prices to consumers' benefit, it's called competition. When China does the same thing, it's called dumping.
April 2020
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
Let's not squander the recovery on grand industrial visions
Nev Power's desire to reboot uncompetitive manufacturing will only weaken Australia further in a tough new world.
March 2020
- Opinion
- Energy
PM needs gimmick-free climate plan
Including a carbon price and nuclear energy in its energy 'roadmap' would give the government's emission's targets badly needed credibility.
February 2020
- Opinion
- Trade
Welcome Joko, but the devil's in the detail of the deal
The hyperbole around free trade agreements is a continuation of the ploy used by Australian governments to mislead voters - and avoid serious economic reform.
December 2019
- Opinion
- Inside China
China's narrow path to the future
Can Xi Jinping make the risky leap to a more sophisticated capitalist economy?
October 2019
- Opinion
- Climate policy
Time to come clean on climate cost
Successive governments have never been honest with voters about the real cost and benefits of climate policy. Maybe it is time for a fact-based inquiry.