November 2020
Another epic fail for the liberal elite
The clanging bias, euphemistic pussy-footing and pie-eyed focus of many major media outlets played right into Trump's hands, writes Parnell Palme McGuinness.
October 2020
Weasel words on oil could backfire at the booths
If Joe Biden's vague talk of an energy "transition" gives right-leaning voters last-minute poll jitters, the result on November 3 could be another upset for the shovel-calling Donald Trump.
Hatred of Trump is a roadblock to reopening
International experts agree harsh lockdowns are harmful and unnecessary. But because Donald Trump supports this view, politics is preventing the science becoming policy in the US.
September 2020
It's time to weigh the cost of death and deficit
It is hard to have a debate right now about the cost of saving lives. But we will need to have it before a potential next wave hits.
We don't need China to polarise ourselves
China hardly needs to mine our data to help sow social discord. Western countries are doing a fine job of polarising themselves on social media.
Trump taps a deep well of political fear
Vote Trump, defend America. The message is more potent than the Democrats' own streak of PC authoritarianism.
August 2020
Fight for freedom is far from over
Seventy-five years after the end of World War II, the liberties fought for are being frittered away by surrendering to authoritarian lockdowns.
Thatcher-Reagan ideology needs left and right update
A new post-pandemic centrism would learn from the supply-side success of the 1980s but also incorporate the conservative and progressive critiques of neo-liberalism.
July 2020
Don't mask the complexity of messages on COVID-19
Single-minded health warnings by politicians patronise instead of making the public partners in the uncertain fight against the pandemic.
Why cancel culture can't take a joke
Like all censorious establishments, the elite-sponsored Black Lives Matter movement is using fear to silence those who laugh at its absurdities.
June 2020
Nihilists fighting the past and the future
Culture is not a war, it's an edifice that everybody contributes to. Nothing positive can come out of fighting over it.
The age of industrialised childcare is coming to an end
Post-pandemic parents have found themselves valuing flexibility even more than subsidy. Campus-style childcare centres are no longer the right model, writes Parnell Palme McGuinness.
May 2020
No model answers for this crisis
A forecasting model is an opinion column with more maths. Its purpose is to spark action, not necessarily to be right.
How Australia could have a miracle recovery
How well we snap back, whether we experience a V, W, U or other alphabetically styled recovery, will depend on whether the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 virus has shaken up existing systems enough, writes Parnell Palme McGuinness.
April 2020
Why reform needs a shot of morals too
Liberalising reform isn't just urgent and practical. It is rooted in the new political morality of the post-virus era as well.
Now isn't the moment for utopias
The COVID-19 pandemic is a wet market for central planners. But road maps for exiting the crisis are meaningless when there are no clear answers.
Lockdowns will kill people too
There is a tipping point at which suicide, alcoholism, and domestic violence becomes too high a price in an all-out fight against COVID-19.
March 2020
A truth serum for globalisation
COVID-19 is a remorseless protectionist infection that is revealing weaknesses in Australia's economy that need addressing,
Panic tests the trust of nations
In infected countries the spread of the virus is driving a wedge between citizens, governments, and the rest of the world.
February 2020
The anti-Morrison pile-on will bolster his base
Like the 'Never Trump' bubble in the US, the perverse effect of this summer will be to bolster the Prime Minister's political base.