Occasional Papers
Occasional Papers (OP) are short publications usually based on a lecture or presentation given at the CIS. Our annual John Bonython and Acton Lectures are part of the OP series.
Categories
Capitalism and Virtue: Reaffirming Old Truths
In the 2012 Annual John Bonython Lecture, eminent political scientist Charles Murray describes the larger historical forces that have been at work in the United States (and, to a lesser extent, Australia)... Read More
Milton Friedman: A Tribute
Nobel-Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman died in late 2006. In March 2007, the CIS hosted a tribute to Friedman and his contribution to Australia's political and economic life. This Occasional Paper... Read More
Sensory Order and Economic Order: The links between human cognition and economic freedom in Hayek's thought.
In this paper, Julie Novak illustrates the connection between The Sensory Order and Hayek's economic thought. His psychological theories were profound in understanding how human beings acquire and communicate... Read More
The Wealth of Generations:Capitalism and the Belief in the Future
In this John Bonython Lecture, with optimism and humour, Johan Norberg looks forward to a future which can only improve with greater freedom, increased knowledge, wealth and technology on our side. Read More
In Defence of Secure Property Rights, 2nd revised edition
Secure private property rights are vital to the development of a growing, healthy Australian economy. Property rights allow owners to be free to access, use and benefit from and dispose of their property... Read More
In Defence of Secure Property Rights
Secure private property rights are vital to the development of a growing, healthy Australian economy. Property rights allow owners to be free to access, use and benefit from and dispose of their property... Read More
What Governments Can't Know: The Knowledge Economy and the Market
Are governments well placed to foster the infusion of different types of complex knowledge to create new or better goods and services? The Eighteenth Annual John Bonython Lecture delivered by Lauchlan... Read More
What Governments Can't Know: The Knowledge Economy and the Market
Are governments well placed to foster the infusion of different types of complex knowledge to create new or better goods and services? The Eighteenth Annual John Bonython Lecture delivered by Lauchlan... Read More
The End of Chaos: Global Markets and the Information Era
Governments have long pursued policies that determined the degree to which markets have been permitted to operate. But in the 1999 John Bonython Lecture, Jerry Jordan suggests that markets will, paradoxically... Read More
Economics & Ethics: The Dispute and the Dialogue
The relationship between economists and religious thinkers is often acrimonious. In this Occasional Paper, an economist Professor Ian Harper and a theologian Dr Samuel Gregg examine some of the causes... Read More
How Markets Work: Disequilibrium, Entrepreneurship and Discovery
Mainstream economic theory starts from the assumption of 'equilibrium', under which markets are perfectly competitive. The 'Austrian' tradition, argues that this amounts to the assuming away of the most... Read More
The Road Not Taken- Hayek’s Slippery Slope to Serfdom
In 1944 Friedrich Hayek published The Road to Serfdom, a warning against the totalitarian dangers involved in central economic planning. Although out of step with the intellectual fashions of its time,... Read More
The Morality of Capitalism
Capitalism is winning the economic battle all over the world. The collapse of socialism has left it without serious challenge as a wealth-creating system. But moral criticism of capitalism continues. Even... Read More
A Tribute to the Modest Member: Bert Kelly
Bert Kelly was for many years a lone parliamentary campaigner for free market ideas and against protectionism. He popularised his message via his ‘The Modest Member’ newspaper column, which continued... Read More
Markets, Morals and Community
Markets, Morals and Community contains three essays. Alan Hamlin's 'The Moral of the Market' looks at various ways in which we can evaluate market institutions. Andrew Norton's 'The Market Mentality' assesses... Read More
Markets, Morals and Community
Few people today doubt the market’s contribution to prosperity, but still there are powerful intellectual traditions opposing the market. The market’s current critics fear not so much that it will... Read More
Institutions of innovation and Poverty
Western nations benefit from social institutions that create prosperity and liberty. The separation of the economic and political spheres and the emergence of institutions of private property and markets... Read More
The Century of Networking
In this John Bonython Lecture, Rupert Murdoch reflects on the coming century of networking. In contrast with pessimistic views of technology taken by writers such as George Orwell, Mr Murdoch sees technology... Read More
Lessons from the Freiburg School: The Institutional Foundations of Freedom and Prosperity
West Germany’s post-War economic success was based on the ideas of the ‘Freiburg school,’ a school of liberal economists, lawyers and social philosophers centred at Freiburg University. Read More
Dismantling Socialism: A Preliminary Report
In the eighth John Bonython Lecture, Václav Klaus, Finance Minister of Czechoslovakia, gives an account of his government’s attempts to move away from a socialist system towards a free-enterprise system. Read More
The Market Process and Environmental Amenities
Most observers believe that free markets self-evidently harm the environment, and that the only available remedy is government regulation to ensure a ‘balance’ between economic growth and environmental... Read More
Socialism Is Dead But Leviathan Lives On
In the seventh John Bonython Lecture, James Buchanan observes that the death of socialism has not been accompanied by the rise of any widespread faith in the free enterprise system, even though that system... Read More
Beyond the Current Pessimism
Professor Ray Ball gives a personal interpretation of the historical roots of Australia’s economic malaise. Read More
The Enemies of Progress
In the third John Bonython Lecture, Ralph Harris recounts the advances that economic freedom and entrepreneurship have brought the world and reminds us that all this good has been an ‘unintended consequence... Read More
The Anti-Capitalist Mentality: Post Mortem for an Ideology
In the Second John Bonython Lecture, Professor R. M. Hartwell traces the history of the anti-capitalist mentality back to myths surrounding the Industrial Revolution in England. Read More
Trial Without Error: Anticipation vs Resilence as Strategies for Risk Reduction
Safety regulations are proliferating at a great rate in society today, attempting to protect us from hundreds of known and unknown dangers. It is the unknown dangers that Aaron Wildavsky addresses here.... Read More
Enterprise: Free, Dependent or Captor?
The relationship between government and business is the theme of this essay. Each depends on the other, and each uses the other for its own purposes. Business seeks favours from government in the form... Read More
The Role of the Entreprenuer in the Economic System
In the Inaugural John Bonython Lecture, Israel Kirzner strongly defends the entrepreneur's role in keeping our economy healthy and vigorous. Buy download or Buy Hardcopy Read More
Democracy in Crisis
Michael C. Jensen and William H. Meckling argue that the capacity of modern governments to transfer property rights unilaterally distorts the political market in favour of vested interests and poses a... Read More
Liberty, Justice and the Market
Lauchlan Chipman challenges us not only to reject the notion that there is a conflict between liberty, justice and the market, but to accept the idea that they are mutually supportive. Read More
The Rhetoric and Reality of Income Redistribution
Income distribution is an overwhelming part of the program of all governments. Too often, however, the rationalisations used to explain these transfer programs do not accord with our observable behaviour.... Read More
The Long Debate on Poverty
The Centre for Independent Studies Occasional Papers series provides an opportunity for authors to present personal perspectives on broad issues of public policy. This definitive examination of the long... Read More
