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
After the Welfare State: Politicians Stole Your Future … You Can Get It Back
History, economics, sociology, political science, and mathematics are the tools to understand and evaluate welfare states, rather than emotional responses or conspiracy theories. This little book, edited... Read More
Re-moralising the Welfare State
The welfare state should be fair as well as caring. Fairness requires that claimants are not treated more favourably than people who work; that more deserving cases are treated differently from less deserving... Read More
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
You Can’t Say That! Freedom of Speech and the Invisible Muzzle
This collection of four speeches warns against the increasing restrictions on free speech in a world being taken over by political correctness. Ostensibly a tool for civility and respect, political correctness... Read More
The Multi-layered Hayek
Friedrich August von Hayek was one of the intellectual giants of the 20th century. His contributions ranged from economics to philosophy, from law to psychology. This collection of essays aims to rediscover... Read More
Reconciling Modernity and Tradition in a Liberal Society
The distinction between traditional and modern is not a very useful one for understanding the problems confronting liberal society, or for working out how to address them because the contrast does not... Read More
Ludwig von Mises – A Primer
In Ludwig von Mises – A Primer, Eamonn Butler presents a comprehensive yet accessible overview of the outstanding achievements of one of the greatest economists and political scientists of the twentieth... Read More
Constitutional Conservatism
In The Centre for Independent Studies’ annual Acton Lecture on Religion and Freedom, Hoover Institution scholar Dr Peter Berkowitz discusses the much debated relationship between religion and politics... Read More
Neoliberalism: The Genesis of a Political Swearword
Neoliberalism is one of the most commonly used words in political debates. Despite this, the origins of neoliberalism are hardly known. Nor does there appear to be a generally accepted definition of... Read More
Adam Smith - A Primer
Despite his fame, there is still widespread ignorance about the breadth of Adam Smith's contrinbutions to economics, politics and philosophy. In Adam Smith - A Primer Eamonn Butler provides an authoritative... Read More
In Praise of Elitism
Australian society is frequently characterised as egalitarian: belief in a 'fair go' for all and a love for cutting down tall poppies are canonical elements of the national character. Does our distrust... 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
A Short History of Australian Liberalism
This study was written in response to what I see as the misleading nature of the studies of Australian liberalism that have been produced to date. Read More
Principles for a Free Society
The need for a principled reconciliation between the prerogatives of individual liberty and social order has been a central preoccupation of classical liberal philosophy. Professor Richard Epstein of the... 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 Modern Mask of Socialism
After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, many people assumed that socialism was dead and that liberal democratic capitalism was to be the unchallenged way of the future. Now, however,... Read More
Karl Popper’s Politics: Liberalism versus Democratic Socialism
Karl Popper (1902-94) was one of the twentieth century’s leading philosophers. In this Occasional Paper Jeremy Shearmur shows how Popper’s though lends support to the ideas and institutions of classical... Read More
Why I Am Not a Conservative
Liberals who uphold the idea of a free society in which both economic and civil liberties are respected are often regarded as conservatives. In his essay ‘Why I Am Not a Conservative’, first published... Read More
Endangered Freedom
In the fifth John Bonython Lecture, Thomas Sowell argues that public life in Western countries is blighted by an ‘unconstrained vision’ of man and society. This vision treats all social evils as curable:... Read More
Ideas about Freedom: A Discussion
Kenneth R. Minogue and John Gray, in separate essays, examine the history and assumptions behind liberalism and conservatism. They place the two doctrines squarely in the world of toady and recommend more... Read More
Social Justice, Socialism and Democracy: Three Australian Lectures
Three lectures on democracy by F.A. Hayek. Read More
