Issue Analysis
Issue Analysis (IA) are shorter publications that deal with controversial and current issues.
Categories
Time to Dump Australia’s Anti-Dumping System
This report argues that Australia should scrap its anti-dumping and countervailing system. The report examines the meaning of dumping and its place in Australian law. It details the history and recent... Read More
Relics of a Byzantine IR System: Why Awards Should Be Abolished
Awards are uniquely Australian, and practically as old as the country itself. But in Australia’s modern, competitive economy, the award system is an anachronism. Along with new statutory conditions,... Read More
Australia and the Asian Ascendancy: Why Upskilling is Not Necessary to Reap the Rewards
Government programs to upskill the Australian workforce for the Asian Century are a solution to a non-problem. With more than a million Asian-born Australians, millions of speakers of Asian languages,... Read More
Faraway, So Close: How the Euro Crisis Affects Australia
Europe’s economic crisis has been shaking financial markets for the past three years. Countries like Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and even Italy are in danger of defaulting on their debt. The continent’s... Read More
The Henry Tax Review: A Liberal Critique
The public release of Australia’s Future Tax System—known as the Henry review—in May 2010 sparked an ongoing debate in Australia about the structure and efficiency of the country’s tax system.... Read More
A Waste of Energy: Why The Clean Energy Finance Corporation is redundant
The federal government’s plans to establish a Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) should be scrapped. As a commercially oriented company, it competes with private investors. As a company with a public... Read More
Towards a Red Tape Trading Scheme: Treating Excessive Bureaucracy as Just Another Kind of Pollution
Government should measure the regulatory costs on the Australian economy and consider a ‘cap and trade’ scheme to manage red tape. Read More
Emissions Tax: The Least Worst Option
The New Zealand government’s emissions trading system, due to come into force in 2010 for energy and 2013 for agriculture, is the wrong approach. An emissions tax linked with other tax cuts would be... Read More
With No Particular Place To Go: The Federal Government's Ill-conceived Support for the Australian Car Industry
With the US car manufacturing industry faltering further, the Rudd government’s massive taxpayer-funded support for the Australian car industry is doomed to fail. It would be better to phase out assistance... Read More
Baby Steps Toward Self-Funded Parental Leave
The debate about increasing the aged pension highlights the fact that, once again, government handouts lead to increasing burdens on taxpayers. When considering a government-funded paid maternity leave... Read More
Is the ‘Earnings Credit’ the Best Way to Cut the Dole Queues?
The 'earnings credit' proposed by the 'Five Economists' in 1998 will not sufficiently decrease joblessness in Australia, and may in fact encourage welfare dependency. The 'earnings credit' – a tax break... Read More
Michael in a Muddle: Michael Pusey’s Bungled Attack on Economic Reform
Andrew Norton reveals many serious errors of fact and logic in his detailed critique of Michael Pusey's new book, The Experience of Middle Australia: The Dark Side of Economic Reform. The main thrust of... Read More
Whose Progress? A Response to the ABS Report Measuring Australia’s Progress
The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ recent report, Measuring Australia’s Progress, threatens to compromise the political neutrality of the ABS, for it blurs the line dividing fact from opinion. Read More
Breaking the Trade Stalemate: What Are Australia’s Options?
Australia’s best hope of long-term trade liberalisation lies in signing a free trade agreement with the United States. Preferential liberalisation of trade may be the only way to break the present stalemate... Read More
Setting the Record Straight: Free Trade and the WTO
By allowing social issues into the WTO agenda using tenuous links to trade policy, the WTO Council has placed the organisation at the vanguard of political skirmishing over globalisation. Read More
Noble Ends Flawed Means: The Case Against Debt-Forgiveness
Plans by the World Bank and the IMF to relieve Third World debt would have dire consequences for the very countries they are trying to help. Read More
Taxi! Reinvigorating Competition in the Taxi Market
Without drastic improvements, taxi services will not be able to service the Olympic Games. Long queues and disgruntled tourists will be very embarrassing for Sydney and Australia. Policy changes are needed... Read More
Rear Vision on Trade Policy: Wrong Way, Go Forward
Policies affecting trade flows do not begin or end in the international arena: Decisions about reducing protection must be implemented at home. Without increasing our competitiveness through improved technology,... Read More
Open for Business? Australian Interests and the OECD's Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI)
The proposed OECD’s Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), which the Australian government has been helping to negotiate, will not mean a dramatic change to Australia’s current practice in controlling... Read More
