This Month
Leadership, stupid, is the missing ingredient for economic reform
Our economic reform drought has not been for a lack of consensus. What leaders are lacking is sound political judgment, the will and the skill to get it done.
Labor must respect economics or be mugged by reality
Economics doesn’t care about your vision any more than gravity cares about your desire to fly. Respect it or plummet to your death.
The One Big Beautiful Bill that split Trump and Musk
Elon Musk has finally discovered what the rest of us have known for a while: the Republicans no longer care about fiscal responsibility.
3 ways the Coalition can fight back and restore Australia’s prosperity
The opposition should focus on solving three of the country’s biggest problems: housing, energy and tax.
May
There is a better way to tax super capital gains
If exempting superannuation returns in retirement causes problems, there is an obvious solution: reinstate tax on super returns in retirement.
Looming US fiscal crisis a cautionary tale for Australia
The lesson is clear. Short-term fiscal discipline, which might seem ignorable in the moment, is vital.
Time for Albanese to grasp the reform nettle
The government got away with defying the laws of economics once, but it might not be so lucky again.
April
Threadbare Coalition agenda needs a burning platform on bracket creep
If Peter Dutton is victorious, the budget repair rhetoric will need tangible policy proposals to enable a serious conversation with voters about tax reform.
Dutton is pursuing a housing subsidy so bad, even Trump killed it
The policy is highly regressive, and will simply boost house prices and blow a huge hole in the personal income tax base that will never be recovered.
Our tax system is a dog’s breakfast. Here’s a 3x3 blueprint to fix it
Three “maxims” to guide the changes. Three “no-regrets” steps either side of politics could institute right away. And three “big-picture” medium-term measures.
Why we shouldn’t rule out an economic doomsday
Policymakers should be war gaming the worst scenario because never before has a single signature by a single individual raised the probability of recession so sharply.
March
Three changes still needed to realise RBA’s potential
The reserve bank has undergone profound change in the past two years. It shouldn’t stop now.
Election a battle between ‘worse off’ and ‘getting better’
Australia is in a worse position today than three years ago – an economic position that is going to be difficult to sell to voters.
Why DOGE is a guide to what Dutton should not do
The punters don’t really want a radically smaller government or fewer public servants. What they want is for the government to be effective and to pay as little tax as possible to make that happen.
This three-point plan can restore respect for taxpayers’ money
The three major announcements by the two major parties so far this election year perfectly encapsulate everything that is wrong with Australian politics
February
Why the RBA will cut (but shouldn’t)
It is too soon to say “mission accomplished”. Monetary loosening should wait until inflation is substantially below forecast for a prolonged period.
‘Prosperity first’ to get us out of economic stagnation
Whoever wins the next election, if a decision comes before you, employ one criterion: will this make Australia more or less prosperous?
January
It’s time for independent forecasts to end budget trickery
An Office of Budget Honesty is needed to create a fiscal watchdog with teeth.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has lost control of the budget
The Albanese government’s decisions on net have added to the national debt as a share of GDP well over three times that of the former Coalition government over the same period.
December 2024
Economics of Coalition’s nuclear modelling are worth nothing
There may well still be good reasons to favour nuclear. But on the basis of this modelling, the economics isn’t one of them.