Issue Analysis
Issue Analysis (IA) are shorter publications that deal with controversial and current issues.
Categories
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
The Decade-long Binge: How Government Squandered Ten Years of Economic Prosperity
Government spending in New Zealand has increased enormously over the past decade in order to meet social goals. From 2000-2010 spending increase from $35 billion to $70.5 billion, a 57% increase in real... 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
Fiscal Shock and Awe in the United States
The relative economic standing of the United States, and therefore its place in the world, may decline as other less mature economies advance. But the US fiscal problem has the potential to hasten the... Read More
Are We All Keynesians Again?
The revival of activist fiscal policy ought to be highly controversial because the 1970s and 1980s saw a new consensus emerge that it was ineffective or even damaging. The lessons from that era remain... Read More
Beyond Symbolism: Finding a Place for Local Government in Australia's Constitution
Local governments could provide better services, like schools and fast development approvals if they received a higher proportion of tax revenue and a formal definition in the Constitution. Read More
Why Tax Cuts Are Good for Growth
In the wake of the government’s $11 billion budget surplus, cutting taxes could deliver a significant boost to the economy. Many voters support tax cuts because it means more money in the pocket. However,... Read More
How to Fix a Leaky Tax System
The New Zealand tax system has become complicated and unfair, and its integrity corroded by the introduction of a 39% tax rate for income over $60,000. Tax evasion and avoidance widespread are widespread... Read More
Are New Zealanders Paying Too Much Tax?
New Zealand is a highly taxed country on a global scale and has record budget surpluses. The past decade has seen huge increases in the government’s tax revenue and spending. In the 2006 Budget, the... Read More
Twenty Million Future Funds
The government’s claim that we need a Future Fund to pay for public servants’ superannuation is bogus. In fact, the Future Fund should be denationalised and the money distributed into individual savings... Read More
The $85 Billion Tax/Welfare Churn
Given the government’s newly-won control of the Senate, most attention is focused primarily on the next 18 months, but it is important to think longer term about the kind of tax and welfare systems we... 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
Tax Injustice: Keeping the Family Cap-in-Hand
There is a growing awareness of financial pressure on the family, together with anomalies in the interaction of family earnings, taxation and welfare benefits. Increasingly generous welfare benefits appear... Read More
