Publications
Our publications are the most important means of contact between the Centre's ideas and its general readership. Since 1976, The Centre for Independent Studies has produced some of the most authoritative publications in Australasian academia. From the influential Lands of Shame to the authoritative Will China Fail? CIS has published hundreds of publications covering topics from the social policy to legal affairs to religion and education.
In addition to books, the CIS publishes a range of shorter publications: Issue Analyses deal with controversial and current issues and Policy Mongraphs investigate and offer policy solutions. Since 1984, Policy magazine has published feature articles and reviews authored by some of the foremost national and international thinkers on public policy and ideas. The quality of writing and the diversity of topics in Policy ensure its status as a 'must read' by leading politicans, businesspeople and academics.
Hard copies of our publications are available for purchase through the bookstore. Many of the smaller publications are also available for download.
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All Economic Policy Publications
TARGET30: Reducing the burden for future generations
TARGET30 is a campaign promoting smaller government and cutting government spending to less than 30% of GDP in the next 10...
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...
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,...
Saving Medicare But NOT As We Know It
High growth in health spending is the area of public expenditure that will unsustainably increase the size of government...
TARGET30 SNAPSHOT: Saving Medicare But NOT As We Know It
High growth in health spending is the area of public expenditure that will unsustainably increase the size of government...
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,...
Tax Welfare Churn and the Australian Welfare State
The welfare state currently consumes $316 billion a year; however, much of this spending is not targeted at those who need...
TARGET30 SNAPSHOT: Tax Welfare Churn and the Australian Welfare State
The welfare state currently consumes $316 billion a year; however, much of this spending is not targeted at those who need...
TARGET30: Towards smaller government and future prosperity
TARGET30 is a campaign promoting smaller government, supported by a series of research reports providing policy solutions...
TARGET30 SNAPSHOT: Towards smaller government and future prosperity
TARGET30 is a campaign promoting smaller government, supported by a series of research reports providing policy solutions...
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...
Capitalism and Virtue: Reaffirming Old Truths
In the 2012 Annual John Bonython Lecture, eminent political scientist Charles Murray describes the larger historical forces...
Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012
Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012
Back to the Bad Old Days? Industrial Relations Reform in Australia
Has the Fair Work Act thrown industrial relations back to ‘the bad old days?’ This report analyses the changes in industrial...
Book Launch: 'The Modest Member: The Life and Times of Bert Kelly'
While Liberals, and certainly liberals, should be proud of Bert Kelly’s legacy, it must not be forgotten that his greatest...
Compulsory Super at 20: ‘Libertarian Paternalism’ Without the Libertarianism
Examines the economic case for compulsory superannuation contributions and questions whether compulsory super is the most...
The New Leviathan: A National Disability Insurance Scheme
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been touted as the biggest social reform since Medicare. Currently, there...
Future Submarine Project Should Raise Periscope for Another Look
Australia should not spend $40 billion to repeat the mistakes of the Collins Class submarine. Nuclear submarines, such as...
Australia’s Future Fiscal Shock
Government is facing the arduous task of securing sustainable expenditure, revenue and debt beyond the current four-year...
Australia's Asia Literacy Non-Problem
New large-scale Asia literacy programs are not necessary for Australia to prosper in the Asian Century. There are approximately...
How the NSW Coalition Should Govern Health: Strategies for Microeconomic Reform
In an ever-tightening fiscal environment, the focus of NSW health policy must be the microeconomic reform of the rigid, public...
Indigenous Education 2012
Indigenous Education 2012 reviews the lack of progress by states and territories in improving Indigenous literacy and numeracy....
Regulation or Strangulation? Banking After the Global Financial Crisis
Inadequate regulation of finance has taken much of the blame for the global financial crisis, leading governments around...
The Condensed Wealth of Nations and The Incredibly Condensed Theory of Moral Sentiments
In The Condensed Wealth of Nations, Eamonn Butler condenses Adam Smith’s work and explains the key concepts in The Wealth...
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,...
Overcoming a Culture of Low Expectations
The most important thing we can do to encourage disadvantaged Australians into work – including people with disabilities,...
Flight of the Kiwi: Addressing the Brain Drain
Why are so many New Zealanders flocking to Australian shores, and what can be done to stop the so-called Kiwi ‘brain drain’? In...
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...
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...
Future Funds or Future Eaters? The Case Against a Sovereign Wealth Fund for Australia
This paper considers the arguments for and against greater use of a sovereign wealth fund in Australia. It argues that the...
FEATURE: Economic Sclerosis in Europe’s Social Democracies
Rare political courage is needed to solve pathological problems afflicting European economies.
FEATURE: More Tracks, Slower Trains
The Victorian Regional Rail Link project is hobbled by inefficient planning and wasteful spending.
Price Drivers: Five Case Studies in How Government is Making Australia Unaffordable
Government influences price levels in more ways than is immediately apparent. Through its direct and indirect interventions...
Trans-Atlantic Fiscal Follies: The Sequel
What started as the US subprime crisis became the global financial crisis and has now developed into the Trans-Atlantic sovereign...
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...
Free-Trade Ferries: A Case for Competition
Sydney needs a network of ferries that is able to cater to the city’s changing demographics but is also financially sustainable...
Working Towards Self-Reliance: Three Lessons for Disability Pension Reform
To successful reduce the number of pensioners on disability support, policymakers must apply the lessons of other welfare...
Hands, Mouths and Minds: Three Perspectives on Population Growth and Living Standards
The long-run relationship between population growth and living standards has been a source of controversy among economists....
When Prophecy Fails
In their 2009 book, The Spirit Level, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett argued for the ‘benefits’ of income redistribution....
Selection, Migration and Integration: Why Multiculturalism Works in Australia (And Fails in Europe)
Australia’s migrants are extremely well integrated by international standards, particularly Europe. The reason why multiculturalism...
Trans-Atlantic Fiscal Follies: The Sequel
The GFC is back. What started as the US subprime crisis became the global financial crisis, which has now developed into...
BOOK REVIEW: The Great Stagnation
The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick and Will (Eventually) Feel Better...
BOOK REVIEW: The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of World Economy
The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of World Economy by Dani Rodrik (New York, 2011.)
BOOK REVIEW: Guaranteed to Fail: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Debacle of Mortgage Finance
Guaranteed to Fail: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Debacle of Mortgage Finance by Viral A. Acharya, Matthew Richardson,...
Australia’s Angry Mayors: How Population Growth Frustrates Local Councils
To understand the effects of a growing population on Australia’s councils, CIS surveyed local authorities from all over...
Taxploitation II: Tax Reform for Incentive,Productivity and Economic Growth
This volume reviews tax reforms implemented since the publication of Taxploitation by the CIS in 2006 and concludes that...
Alcohol Policy and the Politics of Moral Panic
New Zealand’s proposed liquor legislation marks a return to old attitudes towards alcohol regulation that perversely believe,...
Why Does Government Grow?
This paper examines some of the stylised facts in relation to the growth of government in the Western world generally, and...
Droughts and Flooding Rains: Water Provision for a Growing Australia
In the 2010 federal elections, the debate over Australia’s population surfaced once again. Groups concerned with the impacts...
FEATURE: The Use of Happiness in Society
Happiness is not just a feeling, it is a signal to others about what might make them happier.
FEATURE: Project Wickenby: White Hats at Work, or a Witch Hunt?
The Australian Taxation Office’s aggressive use of its discretionary powers risks injustice for taxpayers.
FEATURE: How Useful is the Productivity Commission?
The Productivity Commission doesn’t always get it right, but it has made major contributions to policymaking in Australia.
The Multi-layered Hayek
Friedrich August von Hayek was one of the intellectual giants of the 20th century. His contributions ranged from economics...
Ludwig von Mises – A Primer
In Ludwig von Mises – A Primer, Eamonn Butler presents a comprehensive yet accessible overview of the outstanding achievements...
FEATURE: Free and Fair—How Australia’s Low-Tax Egalitarianism Confounds the World
Australia has found a politically viable way of keeping the state relatively small.
FEATURE: Too Much Choice?
Behavioural economics does not justify depriving individuals of choice.
Empires on the Edge of Chaos: The Nasty Fiscal Arithmetic of Imperial Decline
In the 26th John Bonython lecture, Niall Ferguson, one of the world’s leading geo-economic thinkers and best-selling author...
Tax Reform – For Economic Growth or Bigger Government?
The long-awaited report on Australia's Future Tax System (the 'Henry review') was released by the government in May 2010....
Submission to Native Title Leading Practice Agreements Discussion Paper 2010
The Native Title process is only one of the processes returning land to traditional owners. The lack of benefits to the Indigenous...
Populate and Perish? Modelling Australia's Demographic Future
Since the publication of the 2010 Intergenerational Report, Australia has been debating its demographic future and whether...
After the Wall – Reflections on the Legacy of 1989
When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, it marked the end of the Cold War and of Eastern European communism. Two decades on, The...
BOOK REVIEW: The Pinch: How the Baby Boomers Took Their Children’s Future—and Why They Should Give it Back
The Pinch: How the Baby Boomers Took Their Children’s Future—and Why They Should Give it Back By David Willetts (Atlantic...
July 2010 e-PreCIS
The taxpayer smells a rat Tax revolts have some history in Australia, the best known example being the Eureka Stockade....
BOOK REVIEW: The Relentless Revolution: A History of Capitalism
The Relentless Revolution: A History of Capitalism by Joyce Appleby (W. W. Norton, 2010.)
BOOK REVIEW: Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven Levitt...
June 2010 e-PreCIS
The Rudd government’s Resources Super Profits Tax (RSPT) confirms what Ronald Reagan said about politicians and their view...
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...
Defeating Dependency: Moving Disability Support Pensioners Into Jobs
The focus of welfare reform efforts should be on encouraging some of the 750,000 existing disability support pensioners back...
FEATURE: International Trade: First Principles Forgotten
The global financial crisis has distracted attention from impediments to international trade.
FEATURE: The Risks for High Migration
If the population of Australia reaches 36 million by 2050, it will be a direct consequence of migration policy. A growing...
FEATURE: A Fresh Look at Labour Markets
Minimum wage decisions should take into account all costs to the employer and all benefits to the employee.
FEATURE: The Great Firewall of Australia
Despite strong opposition and economic and political risks, the federal government continues to support mandatory filtering...
BOOK REVIEW: Ayn Rand and the World She Made & Goddess of the Market
For an author whose novels have consistently sold in the hundreds of thousands for more than half a century, Ayn Rand is...
BOOK REVIEW: This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly
This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff (Princeton University...
BOOK REVIEW: Lessons From the Global Financial Crisis: The Relevance of Adam Smith on Morality and Free Markets
Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis: The Relevance of Adam Smith on Morality and Free Markets by Richard Morgan (Connor...
INTERVIEW: Climate Choices
Bjørn Lomborg is a Danish political scientist whose first book, The Skeptical Environmentalist (2001), received international...
FEATURE: Liberating our Cities
Development and zoning laws run contrary to private and public interests.
The Unfinished Business of Australian Income Tax Reform
Robert Carling says the reform agenda for personal income tax should be to cut marginal tax rates; implement automatic indexation...
Indigenous Employment, Unemployment and Labour Force Participation: Facts for Evidence Based Policies
Professor Helen Hughes, Senior Research Fellow at the CIS and Mark Hughes highlight that Indigenous non-labour force participation...
Shooting the Messenger: The Ban on Short Selling
In September 2008, governments around the world instituted bans on the short sale of equity securities. In Australia, the...
BOOK REVIEW: Capitalism, Institutions and Economic Development
Capitalism, Institutions and Economic Development by Michael G. Heller (Routledge, 2009).
BOOK REVIEW: Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World
Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed (William Heinemann, 2009).
REVIEW ESSAY: Informing the Happy State
Even if subjective well-being information can lead to better public policy, this doesn't mean that governments should collect...
INTERVIEW: The Economics of Social Policy
Douglas Clements talks with Kevin Murphy about addiction, inequality, education and fertility.
FEATURE: The Complex Politics of Climate Change
The public's aspirations for climate change policy are not matched by their willingness to act.
FEATURE: Why Would an Economic Liberal Set Minimum Wages?
The Fair Pay Commission brought consultations and research to minimum wage setting.
Like the Curate’s Egg: A Market-based Response and Alternative to the Bennett Report
The National Health and Hospital Reform Commission (NHHRC) has acknowledged the need to ensure health services are responsive...
Reforming Capital Gains Tax: The Myths and Reality behind Australia’s Most Misunderstood Tax
The implications of the Ralph Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reforms vary widely depending on the type of taxpayer, asset class,...
On the Right Track: Why NSW Needs Business Class Rail
Rail connections between Sydney and neighbouring cities need to improve substantially and business class carriages would...
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...
Fiscal Fallacies : The Failure of Activist Fiscal Policy
Editor, Stephen Kirchner ; Contributors, John B Taylor ; Tony Makin ; Robert Carling The global financial crisis that emerged...
Ending the Churn: A Tax/Welfare Swap
John Humphreys argues that removing middle-class welfare in exchange for income tax cuts, the government could reduce tax...
FEATURE: Ten Principles for Tax Reform
Australia's tax system needs principles that go beyond efficiency, equity and simplicity.
FEATURE: Justice and Markets
Hayek rejected justice arguments for and against the market. But his reasons do not logically rule out moderating market...
FEATURE: Is Government the Best Risk Manager?
Some risks are better managed by the private sector. Governments typically bear high costs in admitting failure, yet failures...
FEATURE: What Do Economic Liberals Believe?
There is more diversity of opinion among economic liberals than terms like ‘free-market fundamentalism’.
INTERVIEW: Give Smith a Chance
Paul Comrie-Thomson talks to P J O'Rourke about Adam Smith, Finance, Mustang Cars and much else.
BOOK REVIEW: The Sub-Prime Solution
The Sub-Prime Solution (Princeton University Press, 2008) and Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy and...
BOOK REVIEW: The Ascent of Money- A Financial History of the World
The Ascent of Money- A Financial History of the World by Niall Ferguson (Penguin, 2008).
BOOK REVIEW: Getting Off Track: How Government Actions and Interventions Caused, Prolonged and Worsened the Financial Crisis
Getting off track: how government actions and interventions caused, prolonged and worsened the Financial Crisis by John Taylor...
Supping with the Devil : Government Contracts and the Non-Profit Sector
Big-government corporatism is now in danger of smothering the third sector altogether. The temptation for non-profit organisations...
Fiscal Rules for Limited Government: Reforming Australia’s Fiscal Responsibility Legislation
The paper outlines the rationale for fiscal responsibility legislation and a rules-based approach to fiscal policy. It examines...
In Defence of Non-Government Schools
Non-government schools are providers of public education and deserve adequate public funding. The purposes and functions...
BOOK REVIEW: In Defense of Monopoly: How Market Power Fosters Creative Production
In Defense of Monopoly: How Market Power Fosters Creative Production by Richard B McKenzie and Dwight R Lee (University of...
BOOK REVIEW: Outliers: The Story of Success
Outliers: The Story of Success by Macolm Gladwell (Little, Brown and Company, 2008).
BOOK REVIEW: The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008
The Return of Depression Economics and The Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman (Penguin, 2009).
REVIEW ESSAY: A Christian Economist
Are Economists Basically Immoral and other essays on Economics, Ethics and Religion by Paul Heyne (Liberty Fund, 2008.)
FEATURE: Does Europe Still Matter?
Europe's economic weakness is a problem for Australia.
FEATURE: Revealing Australia's Real Income Tax Rates
Before we can consider tax reform options, it is necessary to have accurate information about the current tax system. Unfortunately,...
FEATURE: Choosing Between Classical Liberalism and Social Liberalism
Social liberals support markets, but also government action to promote a firm safety net and equal opportunity, with more...
BOOK REVIEW: Christian Theology and Market Economics
Christian Theology and Market Economics by Ian Harper and Saumel Gregg (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008).
The Folly of Criminalising Cartels
The federal government's proposal to introduce a maximum jail term of 10 years for individuals found guilty of serious cartel...
OPINION: Apocalypse Now
Market systems survive their inevitable crises.
Bubble Poppers: Monetary Policy and the Myth of ‘Bubbles’ in Asset Prices
The monograph considers some of the practical problems that are likely to be encountered in implementing an activist approach...
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...
FEATURE: Rethinking Professional Regulation
Competitive professional regulation would lead to lower costs for consumers.
FEATURE: Blaming Greenspan: Monetary Policy, the Housing 'Bubble' and the Credit Crisis
Monetary policy alone cannot explain the US housing or financial crisis. In the context of globally integrated capital markets,...
FEATURE: How Not to Solve a Crisis
Mistakes by policymakers and regulators accelerated the financial crisis, argue Bill Stacey and Julian Morris.
BOOK REVIEW: The Gridlock Economy
The Gridlock Economy: How Too Much Ownership Wrecks Markets, Stops Innovation and Costs Lives by Michael Heller (Basic Books,...
In Defence of Civil Society: The Virtue of Prescribed Private Funds
The Commonwealth government is looking to change the rules governing charitable funds which may harm philanthropic giving...
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...
Radical Surgery: The Only Cure for New South Wales Hospitals
Wolfgang Kasper argues that the hospital malaise can only be remedied by removing the central, bureaucratic control of hospitals...
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...
A Streak of Hypocrisy: Reactions to the Global Financial Crisis and Generational Debt
Dr Jeremy Sammut says that ‘household savings have collapsed due to an unnecessary dependence on welfare handouts. A new...
FEATURE: Commodity Prices and the Australian Economy: Trends Versus Cycles
Real commodity prices will declines over the long run.
Harmacy: The Political Economy of Community Pharmacy in Australia
The regulatory environment that governs community pharmacy has created one of Australia’s most protected industries. It...
Million Dollar Babies: Paid Parental Leave and Family Policy Reform
Support for the introduction of paid parental leave has been so vocal that rather than being a means to an end, paid parental...
Capital Xenophobia II: Foreign Direct Investment in Australia, Sovereign Wealth Funds, and the Rise of State Capitalism
Stephen Kirchner offers a timely analysis of Australia’s foreign investment regime and gives his ideas on how to improve...
The Faulty Arguments Behind Australia’s Corporate Tax
This paper investigates Australian corporate tax and highlights a number of issues that deserve greater public awareness.
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...
BOOK REVIEW: Happiness: A Revolution in Economics
Happiness: A Revolution in Economics by Bruno S. Frey (The MIT Press, 2008).
BOOK REVIEW: Sex, Science and Profits: How People Evolved to Make Money
Sex, Science and Profits: How People Evolved to Make Money by Terence Kealey (William Heinemann, 2008).
BOOK REVIEW: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics
The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics edited by David R. Henderson (Liberty Fund, 2008).
FEATURE: Once More Around the Block
History demonstrates that propping up the local car industry is a trimph of hope over experience.
FEATURE: Preferential Trade Agreements: Is there a next step?
Preferential trade agreements can divert trade to less efficient producers.
OPINION: The Myth of OPEC
OPEC has little to do with high oil prices. OPEC is a largely powerless organisation that sustains its own existence with...
Government Intervention in Mortgage Finance: The Case Against 'AussieMac'
An Australian GSE and the mortgage securitisation industry would likely expand only at the expense of other financial intermediaries,...
The Bipolar Pacific
Guest-worker schemes, which have been proposed as a development solution for the Pacific, no doubt benefit the individuals...
Declaring Dependence, Declaring Independence: Three Essays on the Future of the Welfare State
In a time when governments are running up enormous welfare bills and intrusively regulating everyday life, this series of...
Anglo Primacy and the End of History: The Deep Roots of Power
The 24th Annual John Bonython Lecture Whether the United States should lead the world is much debated, but American primacy...
Child Care and the Labour Supply
This report investigates whether child care is unaffordable and if government funding is contributing to its affordability...
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment and Workplace Relations Inquiry 2008
We currently employ a bigger proportion of the working-age population (70%) than ever before. Nevertheless, to increase participation...
A Whiff of Compassion? The Attack on Mutual Obligation
The Rudd government is planning to water down the existing work requirements and mutual obligation policies that have helped...
FEATURE: One Good Big Idea For Water Reform
Third-party access to pipes would open the way to more innovation and competition in water supply and disposal.
FEATURE: The Subprime Mortgage Crisis: Lessons For Regulators
Hedge funds need regulating like banks to avoid financial instability.
REVIEW ESSAY: The Culture of Prosperity
Gregory Clark's book shows how important attitudes are to economic growth.
The False Promise of GP Super Clinics: Part 1: Preventive Care
Dr Jeremy Sammut examines the evidence for preventive care programs to help make the Medicare system sustainable, given the...
FEATURE: The Politics of Protection: America and Australia compared
Despite similar public scepticism about free trade in the US and Australia, protectionism is on the rise in Washington but...
State Tax Reform: Progress and Prospects
This paper analyses the state taxation issues in further detail. After reviewing various reform options, it outlines the...
BOOK REVIEW: Full Disclosure: The Promise and Perils of Transparency
Full Disclosure: The Promise and Perils of Transparency by Archon Fung, Mary Graham and David Weil (Cambridge University...
FEATURE: A 'New Era' for the Reserve Bank?
Australia's central bankers should face greater scrutiny and accountability.
FEATURE: Deal or No Deal
While multilateral trade liberalisation is stalled, Clarissa Keil argues that Australia may need to stay in the race for...
FEATURE: Six Social Policy Myths
Policy experts often think alike, even when the evidence contradicts them. This is how billions of dollars get spent on government...
REVIEW ESSAY: Control Without Command
Julian Le Grand makes a social democratic case for choice and competition in The Other Invisiible Hand: Delivering Public...
What are Low Ability Workers To Do When Unskilled Jobs Disappear? Part 2
Despite low unemployment, working-age welfare dependency remains high, partly because demand for unskilled labour is in decline....
Fiscal Illusion: How Big Government Makes Tax Look Small
Sinclair Davidson in this paper canvasses an issue that cuts across all taxes and all levels of government: fiscal illusion...
BOOK REVIEW: Pop! Why Bubbles are Great for the Economy
Pop! Why Bubbles Are Great For The Economy by Daniel Cross (HarperCollins, 2007).
BOOK REVIEW: The Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History Since 1900
The Shock of The Old: Technology and Global History Since 1900 by David Edgerton (Oxford University Press, 2007).
BOOK REVIEW: The Soulful Science: What Economists Really Do and Why it Matters
The Soulful Science: What Economists Really Do and Why It Matters by Diane Coyle (Princeton University Press, 2007).
FEATURE: Saving For Not-So-Rainy Days
Market pricing, not water restrictions, is the best way of dealing with shortages.
FEATURE: The End of Industrial Relations Reform
WorkChoices polling revealed the political dangers of industrial relations reform.
FEATURE: The Pop Economics of Everyday Life
Applying economic thinking to everyday life can look alot like (un)common sense.
What are Low Ability Workers To Do When Unskilled Jobs Disappear? Part 1
Nearly two million working-age people are on welfare benefits. The fall in the unemployment figures has disguised a displacement...
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...
Exploring a Carbon Tax for Australia
It is not a foregone conclusion that we need a carbon trading scheme or a carbon tax. Humphreys provides much food for thought...
The Coming Crisis of Medicare: What the Intergenerational Reports should say, but doesn’t, about health and ageing
The demographic and medical realities of the twenty-first century mean that Medicare can no longer provide every citizen...
Child Care: Who Benefits?
Child care has gone from something that families would use sparingly and only if necessary to being an alleged human right....
Tax Competition: Much To Do About Very Little
Sinclair Davidson challenges the notion of ‘harmful’ international tax competition. He argues that in the sphere of taxation,...
BOOK REVIEW: Arndt's story: The life of an Australian economist
Arndt's Story: The Life of An Australian Economist by Peter Coleman, Selwyn Cornish and Peter Drake with Bettina Arndt.
FEATURE: Cargo-Cult Railway Proposals
Mega-railway project defy economics, logic and reason.
FEATURE: The Service Economy- Success in a Market Democracy
Many of the service economy's problems come from the government.
FEATURE: Who is The Fairest Of Them All? (With Apologies To Snow White's Mother)
In industrial relations, Liberal and Labor offer a choice between levels of over-regulation.
REVIEW ESSAY: Globalisation, Progress and Politics: Back to the future
The Democracy Sham: How Globalisation Devalues Your Vote by Byran Gould (Craig Potton Publishing, 2006).
FEATURE: Fiscal Policy and Interest Rates in Australia
Tax cuts are unlikely to increase interest rates.
Tax Earmarking Is It Good Practice?
This Monograph critically analyses the use of earmarked (or ‘hypothecated’) taxes in Australia.
The Organisation of Residential Aged Care for an Ageing Population
At the heart of this new paper is the re-assertion of the need for a system of accommodation bonds. Hogan reiterates that...
Lands of Shame: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ‘Homelands’ in Transition
Some 90,000 of Australia’s 500,000 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders live appallingly deprived lives in ‘homelands’...
BOOK REVIEW: Work Choices: What the High Court Said
Work Choices: What The High Court Said by Andrew Stewart and George Williams (Federation Press, Sydney, 2007).
FEATURE: Milton Friedman on the Wallaby Track
Milton Friedman and monetarism both visited Australia in the 1970s.
FEATURE: Not So Big Government
In responding to POLICY articles by Andrew Norton and Des Moore, the then-Treasurer Peter Costello argued that governmnet...
REVIEW ESSAY: 'Quiet Boom' and 'The Search For Stability'
Two views on the economic expansion.Quiet Boom: How the Long Economic Upswing is Changing Australia and its Place in the...
FEATURE: Ownership Matters
Privatisation contributes more to productivity and efficiency than even some economic liberals think.
FEATURE: The Tax Take Is Up
The mantle of 'highest taxing Treasurer' may go with the job, but the government's tax record is still disappointing.
Taming New Zealand’s Tax Monster
New Zealanders now pay an extra $20 billion per year in tax than they did in 2000. There needs to be a proper review of...
The Government Giveth and the Government Taketh Away: Tax Welfare Churning and the Case for Welfare State Opt-Outs
Australians are more prosperous than ever before, so the number of people needing government assistance should be falling....
BOOK REVIEW: Giblin's Platoon: The Trials and Triumph of the Economist in Australian Public Life
Giblin's Platoon: The Trials and Triumph of The Economist In Australian Public Life by William Coleman, Selwyn Cornish and...
Reinventing New Zealand’s Welfare State
New Zealanders are much richer than when the welfare state was founded. People’s incomes should therefore be sufficient...
Mismatch: Australia’s Graduates and the Job Market
The Commonwealth-directed higher education system has produced a mismatch between available graduates and jobs. Australia’s...
New Zealand’s Spending Binge
Government spending in New Zealand is now $20 billion higher than it was in 2000, yet the available social indicators show...
FEATURE: Fact and Fiction: Market Definition and The Media
The ACCC and Pay TV.
BOOK REVIEW: The Economics of Attention: Style and Substance in the Age of Information
The Economics of Attention: Style and Substance In The Age of Information by Richard A Lanham (The University of Chicago,...
FEATURE: '...Who Comes to Australia?'
Where migrants come from can tell us something about how they might fit in.
FEATURE: Trading On Our Reputation
Australia's water management is still leading the way, even in drought.
A Welfare State for Those Who Want One, Opts-outs for Those Who Don't
A system of welfare state opt-outs will help increase people’s independence from government and reverse the unrelenting...
BOOK REVIEW: International Economics and Confusing Politics
International Economics and Confusing Politics by David Robertson (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006).
BOOK REVIEW: The White Man's Burden
The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have DoneSo Much Ill and So Little Good by William Easterly...
State Taxation and Fiscal Federalism: A Blueprint for Further Reform
This paper identifies major structural flaws in our current taxation system and develops a set of radical proposals to put...
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....
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%...
FEATURE: When Will Leviathan Fade Away?
The federal government has failed to curb discretionary spending.
REVIEW ESSAY: Law Without Government
The Law of the Somalis: A Stable Foundation for Economic Development by Michael van Notten, edited by Spencer Heath MacCallum...
BOOK REVIEW: Vital Signs, Vibrant Society: Securing Australia's Economic and Social Wellbeing
Vital Signs, Vibrant Society: Securing Australia's Economic and Social Wellbeing by Craig Emerson (UNSW Press, 2006).
FEATURE: Finding a Cab: The Better Deal for Taxi Customers
Cheaper and more readily available taxis are possible without expensive compensation for taxi licence owners.
FEATURE: The Doha Round: Where to now for the WTO?
The World Trade Organisation is struggling to reach agreement on trade liberalisation.
FEATURE: Want to Predict the Future? Ask the market!
Markets may be better than experts at predicting the future.
INTERVIEW: In Defence of Global Liberalism
Andrew Norton talks to Johan Norberg, writer of In Defence of Gobal Capitalism and 'freelance free-marketeer'.
FEATURE: Our Treasurer Should Cultivate an Irish Lilt
Australia could learn from Ireland's corporate tax system.
Taxploitation: The Case for Income Tax Reform
In this book edited by Peter Saunders, 10 authors explain why and how Australia's system of personal income tax needs reforming.
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...
BOOK REVIEW: Promises, Performance and Prospects: Essays on Political Economy 1980-1998
Promises, Performance and Prospects: Essays on Political Economy 1980-1998 by Antonio Martino
BOOK REVIEW: The Intelligent Australian Investor
The Intelligent Australian Investor by Chris Leithner (Wrightbooks, 2005).
COMMENT: The Cancer Competition?
Selected medical research could be funded through competitive prizes.
FEATURE: Shares in People
Students could finance their studies through selling equity in their future income.
FEATURE: Should Monetary Policy be Transparent?
There is an overwhelming consensus that monetary policymaking should be transparent: an evaluation of the arguments.
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...
HELPless: How the FEE-HELP Loans System Lets Students Down and How to Fix it
Three new loans schemes were introduced in 2005 to fix omissions in the HECS system, but a more realistic FEE-HELP loan...
Make Poverty History: Tackle Corruption
The results of the latest international survey of corruption reveal huge international differences. Poor countries tend to...
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...
FEATURE: Why Still Worry About the Capital Account Surplus?
An arbitrary percentage of GDP is not the right measure of an unsustainable current account deficit.
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...
Reform 30/30: Rebuilding Australia’s Tax and Welfare Systems
John Humphreys has a vision of how the tax and welfare systems could be refashioned to break through the dispiriting problems...
Welfare Reform and Economic Development for Indigenous Communities
Noel Pearson's lecture is to set out a case for a comprehensive reform agenda in Cape York Peninsula.
Between Two Worlds. Australian Foreign Policy Responses to New and Old Security Dilemmas
Globalisation has connected these two worlds through ease of travel, communications and financial flows, but it has not integrated...
The Economics of Indigenous Deprivation and Proposals for Reform
For remote Indigenous communities to have productive employment opportunities with mainstream earnings, decent health outcomes,...
BOOK REVIEW: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.
FEATURE: Low Pay or No Pay?
Economics of the minimum wage: The minimum wage hits the least skilled the hardest.
BOOK REVIEW: The Rise and Fall of Monetary Targeting in Australia
The Rise and Fall of Monetary Targeting in Australia by Simon Guttman (Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2005).
The Free Market Case Against Voluntary Student Unionism (But for Voluntary Student Representation)
The federal government plans to introduce ‘voluntary student unionism’ (VSU) into Australia’s universities by banning...
Are There Any Good Arguments Against Cutting Income Taxes?
Sinclair Davidson explains why, in a sharply ‘progressive’ tax system like ours, tax cuts that appear to favour high...
The Costs of Taxation
The question the government needs to ask is not whether it can do good through more spending, but is whether the relentless...
The Road to Work: Freeing Up the Labour Market
This monograph outlines a framework for a more flexible, deregulated labour market which could strengthen employment, raise...
Six Arguments in Favour of Self-Funding
The welfare state served us well in the past but is decreasingly relevant to current conditions. It came into existence to...
In Defence of Global Capitalism
Norberg refutes, systematically and thoroughly, the tenets of the anti-globalisation movement. Johan Norberg illustrates...
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...
BOOK REVIEW: Finishing the Job: Real-world Policy Solutions in Health, Housing, Education and Transport
Finishing the Job: Real-World Policy Solutions in Health, Housing, Education and Transport by Joshua Gans and Stephen King...
BOOK REVIEW: The Escape From Hunger and Premature Death, 1700-2100: Europe, America and the Third World
The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, 1700-2100: Europe, America and the Third World by Robert William Fogel (Cambridge...
FEATURE: After The House Price Boom: Is this the end of the Australian dream?
Housing has become less afforable, but policy changes could alleviate the problem.
BOOK REVIEW: In Defense of Globalisation
In Defense of Globalisation by Jagdish Bhagwati (Oxford University Press, 2004).
COMMENT: The Economics and Etiquette of Tipping
Tipping is common in the US. A look at economic research on tipping: does it have its benefits?
FEATURE: A Labour Market Fable
Economic tales are not always good guides to policy.
FEATURE: Is Economic Growth Given Too High A Priority?
Australians see economic growth as one element of overall national and personal well-being.
FEATURE: Taxation with Misrepresentation
Australia's revenue lobby in denial.
How Highly Taxed Are We? The Level and Composition of Taxation in Australia and the OECD
Rather than establishing the case for even higher taxes on earnings, a careful analysis of OECD statistics shows what many...
The Very Idea of a Flat Tax
Lauchlan Chipman questions a key principle that has long been embedded in our system of taxation and which most Australians...
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...
Australia's Welfare Habit and How to Kick It
Forty years ago only 3% of working age Australians depended on welfare payments as their main source of income. Today it...
A Voluntary Free Trade Alliance: How to Overcome Hurdles in the Path of Traders and Investors
The 'Global Free Trade Alliance' would promote free exchanges between nations on a voluntary basis and could become a ‘World...
REVIEW ESSAY: The Mandarins of Martin Place
The RBA prefers to maximise policy discretion while avoiding increased accountability. Australia's Money Mandarins: The Reserve...
Will You Still Vote for Me in the Morning? Why Politicians Aren’t Rushing to Increase Taxes
Norton’s review of the evidence does not indicate the existence of a population keen to pay more tax. The politicians know...
Who Pays the Lion’s Share of Personal Income Tax?
Davidson’s paper performs a service by exposing the absurdities of some of the claims that are being made about who pays...
BOOK REVIEW: Motivation, Agency and Public Policy: Of Knights and Knaves, Pawns and Queens
Motivation, Agency and Public Policy: Of Knights and Knaves, Pawns and Queens by Julian Le Grand (Oxford University Press,...
FEATURE: Punching Above Our Weight
If Australia wants to maintain its influence in the world, it needs to keep reforming its economy and increase its population.
FEATURE: Out of the Tax Wilderness
The rule of law is collapsing in the Australian tax system. Geoffrey de Q. Walker suggests some ways to rebuild it.
FEATURE: The Politics of Protection: Public Opinion Can Favour Liberalising Trade
Protectionist sentiment in Australia does not run as deep as it is commonly believed, for public attitudes to freer trade...
Tax Reform to Make Work Pay
We are paying more tax than ever before. Australia’s tax burden is higher than in the United States and Japan, taxes on...
State of the Nation: An Agenda for Change 2004
This book is now in its fourth edition. It offers independent views on Australia’s progress across a range of indicators...
The Taxation of Shared Family Incomes
Terry Dwyer’s paper makes a compelling case for recognising family income sharing for tax purposes, and his arguments and...
Sweet and Sour Pork Barrelling: The Case of Queensland Sugar
For nearly 100 years, pork barrelling has propped up a recalcitrant sugar industry that has refused to reform despite evidence...
The Tax Wilderness How to Restore the Rule of Law
The importance of Geoffrey Walker’s paper is that it shows the price we are paying as a nation for government’s failure...
FEATURE: Another Global Trade Crisis
The multilateral trading system has been seriously weakened by four worrying trends.
FEATURE: Food Phobias: Behind the Fuss Over GM Crops
The biggest problem consumers have with agricultural biotechnology is not genetic modification, but misinformation.
Poverty in Australia: Beyond the Rhetoric
This report challenges prevailing definitions and measurements of poverty, and calls for an alternative strategy for poverty...
How Union Campaigns on Hours and Casuals are Threatening Low-skilled Jobs
For several years now Australian unions have been waging campaigns to limit working hours and the growth in casual employment...
Poor Laws (3) How to Reform the Award System and Create More Jobs
Despite the hype about enterprise bargaining and the individualisation of employment arrangements since the early 1990s,...
How To Reduce Long Term Unemployment
More than half the people claiming unemployment allowances in Australia have been on benefits for more than a year. Introducing...
In Defence of Secure Property Rights
Secure private property rights are vital to the development of a growing, healthy Australian economy. Property rights allow...
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,...
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...
A Self-Reliant Australia. Welfare Policy for the 21st century
In this paper Peter Saunders suggests that the time has come to turn back the growth of this expensive, damaging, demeaning...
BOOK REVIEW: The Ordinary Business of Life
The Ordinary Business of Life: A History of Economics from the Ancient World to the Twenty-First Century by Roger Backhouse...
LETTER: Missing the Wood For The Trees: A Response to Hughes
Terry O'Brien's letter to the editor in response to Helen Hughes' article ('Is Globalisation Good or Bad for Poor People?',...
SCHOOLS BRIEF: Evolutionary Economics: Foundation of Liberal Economic Philosophy
Evolution is the process of change in an open system, an idea that owes just as much to Smith, Hayek and liberal economics...
REVIEW ARTICLE: Three Takes on the Globalisation Debate
Globalisation and Its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz (Allen Lane, 2002); Paradoxes of Prosperity: Why the New Capitalism...
Poor Laws (2): The Minimum Wage and Unemployment
More than half the poor in Australia are unemployed. It is joblessness, not low-paid jobs, that is the biggest source of...
The Unchained University
Australia's universities are not preparing students adequately for their futures. Report author and higher education expert...
SCHOOLS BRIEF: I, Pencil
Making pencils would not be possible without free markets, a simple truth that is often used to defend private enterprise.
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...
Poor Laws (1): The Unfair Dismissal Laws and Long-term Unemployment
Unfair dismissal laws stifle job creation and compound Australia’s high unemployment problem. Despite a near-decade of...
Sustainable Immigration and Cultural Integration
Professor Kasper outlines the benefits of past migration. He points out that Australians can be justifiably proud of the...
The Art of Corporate Governance: a return to first principles
Calls for big business to be more ‘ethical’ and ‘socially responsible’ have never been louder, nor more misguided. ...
Has History Restarted Since September 11?
Francis Fukuyama argues that the fracture line over globalisation could turn out to be a division, not between West and the...
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...
Taxing the family : Australia's forgotten people in the income spectrum
Over the last two decades, the tax burden has shifted from taxpayers without to taxpayers with dependent children. While...
BOOK REVIEW: Arts and Economics
Arts and Economics: Analysis and Cultural Policy by Bruno S. Frey (Springer Verlag, 2000.)
REVIEW ARTICLE: Economic Literacy in One Mighty Lesson
Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell (Basic Books, 2000.) In the non-technical introduction...
COMMENT: 'Stakeholder' Theory
The world 'stakeholder' is an unsubtle play on 'stockholder', implying an entitlement not unlike ownership. But if good corporate...
COMMENT: The Case Against 'Corporate Social Responsibility'
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an appearling concept, but the current widely-held doctrine of CSR is deeply flawed....
FEATURE: De-nationalising Money
The Emergence of 'Brand Name' Capital: The falling costs of information and communication technologies make it increasingly...
State of the Nation 2001: A Century of Change
This major report finds that Australia is in the midst of profound social and economic change sometimes for the better, sometimes...
State of the Nation 2001: A Century of Change (CD ROM)
A CD version of a major report that finds Australia is in the midst of profound social and economic change sometimes for...
FEATURE: Reforming Wages and Welfare Policy: Six Advantages of a Negative Income Tax
The replacement of all current welfare and wage provisions with a universal but minimal negative income tax would create...
INTERVIEW: Seeing the Bigger Picture: The Value of Economic History
Andrew Norton interviews Eric Jones, one of the world's most prominent economic historians.
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....
FEATURE: The 'Fair Go' in Australia: Popular Support for Taxing and Spending
Are Australians prepared to tolerate higher taxes in return for increased social services as welfare lobbyists often assume?
CRITICAL REVIEW: Imagined Enemies
Water's Fall: Running the Risks with Economic Rationalism by Chris Sheil (Pluto Press, 2000.)
COMMENT: Renewing the Social Fabric: Mutual Obligation and Work for the Dole
Nearly everything the Coalition Government does is challenged on the suspicion that it is trying to reduce spending in order...
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...
Behavioural Poverty
The welfare debate is bedeviled by the failure to distinguish behavioural from financial poverty. The minimum income available...
BOOK REVIEW: The Vices of Economists- The Virtues of the Bourgeoisie
The Vices of Economists- The Virtues of the Bourgeoisie by Deirdre McCloskey (Amsterdam University Press, 1997.)
BOOK REVIEW: The Second Wave of Law and Economics
The Second Wave of Law and Economics by Megan Richardson and Gillian Hadfield (The Federation Press, 1999.)
REVIEW: Are Industry Innovations Discovered In Summits Or In Valleys?
Encouraging Knowledge-Intensive Industries: What Australia Can Draw From the Industrial Upgrading Experiences of Taiwan and...
FEATURE: The Asian Tale, Twice Told
Since the Asian crisis, analysis of how markets and the institutions that govern them operate has become the focus of policy...
Building Prosperity: Australia's Future as a Global Player
Over the past two decades Australia has been transformed from a protected backwater on the global periphery to an outward-looking...
BOOK REVIEW: Australia's Economic Revolution
Australia's Economic Revolution by John Edwards (UNSW Press, 1999.)
BOOK REVIEW: 1998 Industry Economics Conference Proceedings
1998 Industry Economics Conference Proceedings a Productivity Commission publication (Melbourne, 1999.)
REVIEW ARTICLE: Crisis or Signal? Asia's Economic Problems
A Literature Review.
INTERVIEW: An Optimistic Window?
Global Markets in the Information Era: Greg Lindsay talks with Jerry Jordan.
FEATURE: Prioritising Policies for Prosperity
Raising national saving, a major objective of a series of recent federal budgets, has been a high economic policy priority.
FEATURE: Better than the Australian Industrial Relations Commission
Getting rid of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and giving trade unions no special rights is likely to do 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...
Economics & Ethics: The Dispute and the Dialogue
The relationship between economists and religious thinkers is often acrimonious. In this Occasional Paper, an economist Professor...
How Markets Work: Disequilibrium, Entrepreneurship and Discovery
Mainstream economic theory starts from the assumption of 'equilibrium', under which markets are perfectly competitive. The...
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...
COMMENT: Uniform Commercial Laws: The Merits of Wallis Recommendation 114
In its final report in March 1997, the Wallis Committee expressed the view that reform of the regulatory framework could...
SCHOOL'S BRIEF: Australia's Prospects in the Global Economy
Selected economic excerpts from State of the Nation 1999.
COMMENT: The Goods and Services Tax: Enforceable Guidelines
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has established an enforcement program directed primairly at retailers....
INTERVIEW: Papal Revolutions, Political Habits and Predatory States
Jason Soon talks to Deepak Lal.
State of the Nation: Indicators of a Changing Australia 1999
The expanded and revised edition of State of the Nation: Indicators of a Changing Australia 1999 is a comprehensive guide...
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: Australia's Virtuous Cycle
What makes the performance of the Australian economy more impressive is that this has been achieved despite a much greater...
BOOK REVIEWS: Hard Cases, Tough Choices
Hard Cases, Tough Choices: Exploring the Ethical Landscape of Business by Simon Longstaff (Pan Macmillan Australia, 1997.)
COMMENT: Some Observations on the Economics of Productivity and Pay
"In the course of the last decade, the culture of wage fixing in Australia has absorbed the notion that productivity improvement...
COMMENT: Remedies for the Asian Deflation: Revisiting Old Ground
The case against Keynesian remedies for the Asian crisis.
INTERVIEW: Liberalism, Capitalism and Institutional Development
Jason Soon talks to former president of the Mont Pelerin Society, Max Hartwell, best known for his engagement in the 'Standard...
FEATURE: Reforming Public Funding of the Performing Arts
Public funding of the arts throws up a range of economic, social and political problems.
FEATURE: Taxi!! Reinvigorating Competition in the Taxi Market
Anecdotal evidence suggests that there is room for improvement in the state of taxi services in NSW.
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...
SCHOOLS BRIEF: Whither the Clever Country? Australia's Industry Policy
Industry policy is an important topic in the high school economics syllabus. This School's Brief presents a survey and evaluation...
BOOK REVIEW: Merits and Limits of Markets
Merits and Limits of Markets edited by Herbert Giersch (Springer-Verlag, 1998.)
BOOK REVIEW: Political Competition, Innovation and Growth- A Historical Analysis
Political Competition, Innovation and Growth- A Historical Analysis by P. Bernholz, M.E. Streit and R. Vaubel (eds.) (Springer,...
REVIEW ARTICLE: Globalisation: 'Politics' versus 'Economics'
Global Nation? Australia and the Politics of Globalisation by John Wiseman (Cambridge University Press, 1998.) Globalisation,...
COMMENT: The Korean Financial Crisis- Causes, Effects and Solutions
The flaws of managed exchange rates and industry policy.
FEATURE: Reforming State Taxation
Assessing options for tax changes at the state level.
Why Small Business Is Not Hiring: Regulatory Impediments to Small Business Growth
Small business makes an important contribution to the Australian economy, accounting for 42 percent of employment in 1997-98....
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: Taxation of Family Income
The Lost Concept of Horizontal Equity
COMMENT: World Competitiveness- Are We On Track?
An update on Australia's world competitiveness ranking.
COMMENT: The Asia Crisis: Causa Sine Qua Non
Why Asia needs more transparent institutions.
FEATURE: Liberalism in Economics and Politics
An interview with Antonio Martino, Professor of Economics and Chairman of the Department of Political Science at the Free...
FEATURE: Electronic Money and The Market Process
How digital developments are opening new frontiers for Liberalism.
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...
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...
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: How Markets Work: Disequilibrium, Entrepreneurship and Discovery
This paper presents, in non-technical terms, an 'Australian' view of how a market economy works.
BOOK NOTES: Corporate Welfare Policy and the Welfare State
Corporate Welfare Policy and the Welfare State by Davita Glasberg and Dan Skidmore (Walter de Gruyter & co, 1997.)
BOOK NOTES: The Logic of Action: Two
The Logic of Action: Two by Murray N. Rothbard (Edward Elgar, 1997.)
REVIEW ARTICLE: Australia at a Crossroads?
Australia at the Crossroads by Fred Argy (Allen & Unwin, 1998.)
FEATURE: Indonesia and The IMF: Two Equal Partners
Two economic crises stand out during the twentieth century: the Great Depression and the crises in Asia.
FEATURE: Interests, Incentives and Institutions
An economist's experience of government failure.
EDITORIAL: Spring 1998
Editorial for POLICY Magazine Issue Spring 1998.
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,...
Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value: Moving Toward, Or Away From, Wage Justice for Women?
Concerns about equity for working women are being misused to move back to industry-wide wage fixing and its attendant dangers...
SCHOOL'S BRIEF: Productivity and Australia's Future
The more competitive are the markets, the greater the pressure on the firms to be more productive.
BOOK NOTES: John Locke and the Origins of Private Property
John Locke and the Origins of Private Property by Matthew H. Kramer (Cambridge University Press, 1997.)
COMMENT: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Wealth
On the Economics of Liberal Rights.
FEATURE: The Open Economy and the National Interest
The Tug of War over the Multilateral Agreement on Investment.
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,...
SCHOOL'S BRIEF: Public Choice Theory: An Introduction
Over time, more and more economists have found the "Social Welfare Function' approach to be simply inconceivable in real-time...
COMMENT: The Perils of Republics
In practice unanimity of will in the political sphere does not occur, making the reach of authority problematic.
FEATURE: Global Warming
The Mother of all environmental scares.
FEATURE: Fencing the Oceans
A rights-based approach to privatising fisheries.
INTERVIEW: The Asian Meltdown
Christopher Lingle speaks to Charles Richardson about the 1997-1998 Financial events in East Asia and their underlying causes.
FEATURE: Asia's Financial Crisis
Its causes and likely impact on Australia.
FEATURE: Monetary and Fiscal Rules
Past successes and future prospects.
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: International Trade
For all its antiquity and contemporary rates of growth, international trade is controversial and much public policy debate...
BOOK REVIEW: Not Just for the Money: An Economic Theory of Personal Motivation
Not Just for the Money: An Economic Theory of Personal Motivation by Bruno S. Frey (Edward Elgar Publishing, 1997.)
REVIEW ARTICLE: Economics and the Environment
Economics and the Environment: A Signalling and Incentives Approach by Ian Wills (Allen & Unwin, 1997.)
COMMENT: Does Australia Really Need to Encourage its Innovators to Commercialise In-House?
The prospect that the Australian economy might have something more than a primary and service industry base bodes well for...
FEATURE: Postal Services: Public Or Private, Competition or Monopoly?
A review of Australia Post, considering competition issues such as community service obligations and the legislative standard...
FEATURE: Looking for Results
Ronald Coase talks to Thomas Hazlett.
FEATURE: The New Populism in Australia
Since the 1970s, Australians have been living through an age of uncertainty or, perhaps more positively, an age of redefinition.
FEATURE: The New Wealth of Nations: Australian Postscript
Does Australia fit the Bill? As compared with the U.S., our clearest economic failing is unemployment.
The Morality of Capitalism
Capitalism is winning the economic battle all over the world. The collapse of socialism has left it without serious challenge...
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: Economic Reasoning
Where are economists coming from and why should one believe an economist?
COMMENT: Australia's World Competitiveness Ranking- Which Way Now?
An examination of the Institute for Management Development's The World Competitiveness Yearbook, which analyses and ranks...
FEATURE: The Coming Libertarian Age
An excerpt of David Boaz's Libertarianism: A Primer (Free Press, 1997.)
FEATURE: National Saving and Commonwealth Budget Strategy
A smaller public sector can increase saving.
EDITORIAL: Spring 1997
Editorial for POLICY Magazine Spring 1997.
Democracy and the Welfare State
The welfare state has now been experienced by several generations. In this Occasional Paper, Professor Kenneth Minogue looks...
FEATURE: A Right Or A Rip-Off: The Parallel Importing Debate
A summary of some of the argument for and against issues of Parallel Importing.
FEATURE: Financial Globalisation: Ceding Sovereignty or Safeguarding Growth
Fears of globalisation are overstated.
FEATURE: Fiscal Inheritance
The Accord's long term fiscal implications.
FEATURE: The Wallis Inquiry and Bank Merger Policy
Why the Wallis recommendations ought to be rejected.
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...
State of the Nation: Statistical Indicators of Australia's Well-being
The first of a series of studies of the social condition of Australia in 1997.
BOOK NOTES: Economic Socialization
Economic Socialization: The Economic Beliefs and Behaviours of Young People edited by Peter Lunt and Adrian Furnham (Edward...
BOOK REVIEW: The Good Society: The Humane Agenda
The Good Society: The Humane Agenda by John Kenneth Galbraith (Sinclair Stevenson, 1996.)
REVIEW ARTICLE: Great Expectations or Hard Times?
Great Expectations: Microeconomic Reform and Australia by John Quiggin (Allen and Unwin, 1996.)
COMMENT: On The Fifth Anniversary of Hayek's Death
With the death of Friedrich A. von Hayek five years ago, we lost a last representative of a gifted generation of classically...
COMMENT: Enforcing APEC
"The interdependence of member countries in many spheres of interest thus provides a potentially powerful way to enforce...
FEATURE: Market Definition and The Media: A Reply to Jones
"Products do not need to be perfect substitutes to be in the same market."
Reforming Central Banking
This book is about which monetary institutions and monetary regimes are most likely to promote price stability.
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: The Economics of Regulation Review
As part of the microeconomic reform process, Australian governments are paying more attention to the costs and benefits of...
BOOK REVIEW: Unlocking the Infrastructure- The Reform of Public Utilities in Australia
Unlocking the Infrastructure- The Reform of Public Utilities in Australia by Stephen King and Rodney Maddock (Allen &...
COMMENT: GST: Reform Requires a Political Champion
Momentum continues to build for the introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST).
FEATURE: The Case Against Software Patents
The economic inefficiency of patents.
FEATURE: The Hidden Costs of a GST- An International Perspective
GST compliance costs are likely to fall especially heavily on small businesses.
Markets, Morals and Community
Few people today doubt the market’s contribution to prosperity, but still there are powerful intellectual traditions opposing...
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: Government in a Mixed Economy
Why does government exist?
FEATURE: 'Two Point Something': The Credibility of Australian Monetary Policy
A missed inflation targeting opportunity.
FEATURE: Economic Rationalism vs The Entitlement Consensus
The meaning of economic rationalism.
Institutions of innovation and Poverty
Western nations benefit from social institutions that create prosperity and liberty. The separation of the economic and political...
The Boundaries of Life’s Responsibilities- Community and Nation in a Global Environment
Gary Sturgess argues that globalisation’s tensions can be eased by clarifying the role of each level of government. Many...
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: Fiscal Policy
Fiscal policy has reassumed prominence in macroeconomic policy making since the election of the Coalition Government in March...
BOOK NOTES: Winter 1996
Liberalism and Community by Steven Kautz (Cornell University Press, 1995.) In an Age of Experts: The Changing Role of Professionals...
FEATURE: Typing Errors
The QWERTY keyboard is used to make a case against markets. But the evidence has been cooked.
FEATURE: The CIS At Twenty
Greg Lindsay talks to Andrew Norton on the 20th anniversary of the Centre for Independent Studies.
FEATURE: In For The Long Term: The Time Horizons of Australian Corporations
What might cause investment short-termism?
FEATURE: Russian Roulette Competition Policy
The danger of the ACCC's misguided market definition.
Working Youth:Tackling Australian Youth Unemployment
Working Youth proposes reforms to the labour market and educationthat would begin the task of creating jobs for Australia's...
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: Economic Growth
Macroeconomics is about the behaviour of the economy taken as a whole. The study of economic growth is an important part...
BOOK REVIEW: Capitalism: A Social Audit
Capitalism: A Social Audit by Peter Saunders (Open University Press, 1995.)
FEATURE: Barriers To Australian Mineral Exports
Microeconomic reform is needed for the mining industry.
FEATURE: Singapore and 'Asian Values'
The price of Asian authoritarianism.
FEATURE: The Neoprotectionist Challenge for the WTO
Non-tariff obstacles to free trade.
FEATURE: Why Employment Performance Differs
The effect of product market regulations on employment.
FEATURE: Low Balling and Contracting Out: Is it Really A Problem?
Avoiding the risks in contracting out.
FEATURE: Special Events- Are They Beneficial?
The cost to taxpayers of the Gold Coast Indycar Grand Prix.
BOOK REVIEW: The State We're In
The State We're In by Will Hutton (Jonathan Cape, 1995.)
FEATURE: The Price of Information
The effects of cheaper information.
FEATURE: Regulation Reform in the 90s: Challenges and Opportunities
Improving the quality of regulation.
FEATURE: Access: Competition Policy's Weak Link
Access to infrastructure policies may not help consumers or improve efficiency.
CONTROVERSY: Doing Justice To Telecommunications Equity
There are significant differences of principle between those who advocate government intervention to bring about social justice...
BOOK REVIEW: Competing Gospels: Public Ecology and Economic Theory
Competing Gospels: Public Theology and Economic Theory by Robert J. Simons (E.J. Dwyer, 1995.)
FEATURE: The Unregulated Infobahn
The price of information superhighway intervention.
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: The Distribution and Redistribution of Income and Wealth
One of the many important functions of government involves the distribution and redistribution of income and wealth.
FEATURE: The Myth of Asia's Miracle
Asia's economic growth cannot be sustained.
FEATURE: 'The Myth of Asia's Miracle": A Comment on Krugman
A response to Krugman.
FEATURE: Electronic Payments Systems And Their Economic Implications
Smart Cards undermine central bank currency monopolies.
FEATURE: Wanted! Miore Australian Entrepreneurs
Can the Australian Government promote the emergence of entrepreneurs?
POLICY CORRESPONDENCE: Letter to the Editor
Letter to the editor regarding Steve Dodds' article on Green Economics: Its Errors and Insights.
BOOK REVIEW: International Capital Mobility and External Account Determination
International Capital Mobility and External Account Determination by A. J. Makin (Macmillan, 1994.)
BOOK REVIEW: The Business of Ecology: Australian Organisations Tackling Environmental Issues
The Business of Ecology: Australian Organisations Tackling Environmental Issues edited by Leigh Cato (Allen & Unwin,...
BOOK REVIEW: The Index of Economic Freedom
The Index of Economic Freedom by Bryan T. Johnson and Thomas P. Sheehy (Heritage Foundation, 1995.)
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: The Evolving World Economy: Towards Globalism or Regionalism
The Growth of Cross-Border Economic Relations.
FEATURE: Competition: The Missing Link in Australia's Privatisation Program
Consumer's benefits when competition is combined with privatisation.
FEATURE: From Social Workers To Employment Agents
In today's labour market everyone might need an employment agent.
COMMENT: The Decline of Economics in Schools
The decline of economics in schools: the possible causes and implications of the decline, as wellk as strategies to increase...
BOOK REVIEW: The Seven Cultures of Capitalism
The Seven Cultures of Capitalism: Value Systems for Creating Wealth in the United States, Britain, Japan, Germany, France,...
BOOK REVIEW: Telecompetition: The Free Market Road to the Infomation Superhighway
Telecompetition: The Free Market Road to the Infomation Superhighway by Lawrence Gasman (Cato Institute, 1994.)
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: Understanding Australia's Industrial Relations System
Australia has a unique system of industrial relations.
The Century of Networking
In this John Bonython Lecture, Rupert Murdoch reflects on the coming century of networking. In contrast with pessimistic...
FEATURE: More People, Greater Wealth, More Resources, Healthier Environment
The environmentalist doomsayers have it wrong.
FEATURE: High On the Reform Agenda: Competitive Federalism
The economic imperatives to reform federal-state relations.
FEATURE: The Two Faces of Australian Unions
Can Australian unions help make firms more efficient?
FEATURE: Green Economics: Its Errors and Insights
Can the Greens and economic rationalism find some common ground?
BOOK REVIEW: Thinking the Unthinkable: Think-Tanks and the Economic Counter-Revolution 1931-1983
Thinking the Unthinkable: Think-Tanks and the Economic Counter-Revolution 1931-1983 by Richard Cockett (HarperCollins, London,...
BOOK REVIEW: The Lie of the Level Playing Field: Industry Policy and Australia's Future
The Lie of the Level Playing Field: Industry Policy and Australia's Future by Jenny Stewart (Text Publishing Company, 1994.)
Failure, Chaos and Leadership- Ingredients of Democratic Reform
In this Occasional Paper, delivered as a Bert Kelly Lecture in June 1994, Kenneth P. Baxter says that substantial and far-reaching...
FEATURE: Will Inflation Return?
Rapid growth of the money supply suggests it might.
FEATURE: Reform Retreat: The Industrial Relations Reform Act 1993
The government fails to make necessary reforms to the industrial relations system.
REVIEW ARTICLE: Economic Policy Past & Present: Are We Learning?
A Decade of Shann Memorial Lectures 1981-1990 and the Australian Economy edited by M.A.B Siddique (Academic Press International,...
BOOK REVIEW: Economic Rationalism: Dead End or Way Forward
Economic Rationalism: Dead End or Way Forward? edited by Stephen King and Peter Lloyd (Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1993.)
Should We Worry About the Foreign Debt?
The debate about Australis's foreign debt seems endless. Some say it is nothing to worry about and other fear a foreign...
FEATURE: A Road to Hell Paved With Good Intentions
Hayek's warning to the world.
FEATURE: Buy Australian?
Buying Australian could cost jobs and lower living standards.
FEATURE: Japan's MITI: A Role Model for Australia and New Zealand?
Japan's success may be despite, rather than because of, MITI.
FEATURE: Matches Played Under Rafferty's Rules
Data matching has been an expensive failure.
FEATURE: How Necessary Was the State in Australia's Economic Development?
Not as necessary as we once thought...
BOOK REVIEW: God and the Marketplace
God and the Marketplace edited by Jon Davies (IEA Health and Welfare Unit, London, 1993.)
BOOK REVIEW: Microeconomic Reform in Australia
Microeconomic Reform in Australia edited by Peter Forsyth (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1992.)
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: GATT: What Is It, What Does It Mean?
Trade within a country is covered by that country's legal system. Trade across national boundaries lacks such a framework...
FEATURE: Reserve Bank Independence or a Money-Growth Rule?
Reserve bank independence has been proposed as a way of increasing the stability of monetary policy.
FEATURE: The Middle of the Social Market Economy
Despite the collapse of communism, Western intellectuals remain sceptical of market capitalism.
COMMENT: On Reserve Bank Independence or a Money-Growth Rule?
Tom Valentine on Tony Makin's Reserve Bank Independence or a Money-Growth Rule?
COMMENT: Further Comments on Reserve Bank Independence or a Money-Growth Rule?
David Archer comments on Reserve Bank Independence or a Money-Growth Rule?
COMMENT: Further Views on Reserve Bank Independence or a Money Growth Rule?
Michael Parkin comments on Reserve Bank Independence or a Money-Growth Rule?
COMMENT: Rejoinder for Reserve Bank Independence or a Money-Growth Rule?
Tony Makin's rejoinder for his article, Reserve Bank Independence or a Money-Growth Rule?
FEATURE: The Riddle of The Social Market Economy
Despite the collapse of communism, Western intellectuals remain sceptical of market capitalism. An exploration of the origin...
FEATURE: Capitalism and Culture
The challenge to free enterprise today isn't economic or political: it's cultural.
NOTES AND COMMENTS: Property Rights and China's Economic Reform
Property rights are multi-dimensional. They consist of rights to use, to transfer and to appropriate earnings from property,...
BOOK REVIEW: Head to Head: The Coming Economic Battle
Head to Head: The Coming Economic Battle Among Japan, Europe and America by Lester Thurwow (Morrow, New York, 1992.)
BOOK REVIEW: The Moral Foundations of Market Institutions
The Moral Foundations of Market Institutions by John Gray (Institute of Economic Affairs, Health and Welfare Unit, 1992.)
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: Fiscal Policy and Budget Deficits
The government's budget deficit is the most common, but sometimes least informative measure of its fiscal policy stance.
NOTES AND COMMENTS: CER and Australian Cultural Protection
The Services Protocol was expected to be the major instrument in the development of free trade in the services sector. But...
FEATURE: Fees, Subsidies and the Market for Higher Education
Mark Harrison argues that despite major reforms since 1988, the continuing absence of price signals and market incentives...
FEATURE: Urban Consolidation: A Modern Urban Myth
The Australian Commonwealth Government's Building Better Cities program aims to increase urban residential densities. A summary...
BOOK REVIEW: Taxpayers Beware!
The Case for Earmarked Taxes: Government Spending and Public Choice by Ranjit S. Teja and Barry Bracewell Milnes (Institute...
BOOK REVIEW: A Defence of Economic Rationalism
A Defence of Economic Rationalism edited by Chris James, Chris Jones and Andrew Norton (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1993.)
BOOK REVIEW: Responsive Regulation: Transcending the Deregulation Debate
Responsive Regulation: Transcending the Deregulation Debate by Ian Ayres and John Braithwaite (Oxford University Press, 1992).
BOOK REVIEW: Delivering the Goods
Urban Goods Movement: A Guide to Policy and Planning by Kenneth Ogden (Ashgate, 1992).
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: Twenty Five Years of Indonesian Economic Policy
Colin Brown outlines the conduct of economic policy in Indonesia since 1967 and speculates on the possibility that the free-market...
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,...
FEATURE: A Future for Economic Rationalism
Economic rationalism owes much to new insights in technical and organisational evolution, industrial history, the new institutional...
FEATURE: Reforming Australia's Utilities: Deregulation and Regulation
Improving the performance of Australia's state-owned and privatised utilities is a major component of the economic reform...
FEATURE: Australian Coastal Shipping: Cabotage or Contestability
Australia's geography, pattern of comparative advantage, and export orientation make efficient coastal shipping a necessity....
FEATURE: Are Economists Basically Immoral?
An edited version of a talk given at the CIS by Paul Heyne:"All economists insist that voters have no incentive to cast an...
CRITICAL REVIEW: The Do-It-Yourself Economics of Shutdown
Shutdown: The Failure of Economic Rationalism and How to Rescue Australia edited by John Carroll and Robert Manne (The Text...
NOTES & COMMENTS: How Australia's National Wealth Rose in the 1980s
Assets, liabilities and wealth.
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: Australia's Savings Performance
An analysis of the determinants of saving, arguing that the appropriate level of saving would flow from sustained economic...
FEATURE: Controlling The Tax Commissioner's Powers of Investigation
The Australian Tax Commissioner's powers of investigation should be fully enshrined in legislation and placed on a similar...
FEATURE: The Maastricht Treaties: Building Fortress Europe
The Maastricht Treaties will reinforce Europe's protectionist-corporatist trend to the detriment of democratic-parliamentary...
FEATURE: The Maori Fisheries Act 1989 and The Restoration of Maori Fishing Rights
New Zealand's Maori Fisheries Act 1989 provides for the recognition of Maori fishing rights secured under the Treaty of Waitangi...
FEATURE: Australia Should Dump Its Anti-Dumping Laws
Dumping is widely thought to be unfair and injurious to Australia's domestic industries. The argument that dumping is generally...
FEATURE: Flexible Intervention: Trade Reform in Korea and Singapore
Some Australian commentators have been showing interest recently in the industry policies pursued by several Asian countries....
BOOK REVIEW: Unemployment: 'Plenty We Can Do...'
Unemployment: Macroeconomic Performance and The Labour Market by Richard Layard, Stephen Nickell and Richard Jackman (Oxford...
BOOK REVIEW: Protection Without Tariffs
Technical Barriers To Agricultural Trade by Jimmye Hillman (Westview Press, 1991.)
BOOK REVIEW: Mastering Comparisons
Mastering Risk: Environment, Markets and Politics in Australian Economic History by Colin White (Oxford University Press,...
BOOK REVIEW: Regulating Britain's Privatised Utilities
Regulators and the Market: An Assessment of the Growth of Regulation in the UK edited by Cento Veljanovski (Institute of...
BOOK REVIEW: Agreement Is Everything
The Political Economy of James Buchanan by David Reisman (Macmillan, 1990.)
NOTES & COMMENTS: The Tariff
The Tariff: An Expensive But Hidden Subsidy.
Advertising Bands: Administrative Decisions or Matters of Principle?
In this Occasional Paper, John Gray argues that the paradox reflects the fallacious belief that the economic sphere of life...
FEATURE: Economic Reform: A Global Revolution
The last decade has witnessed a profound and a widespread revision in the conduct of economic policy. A review of this policy...
BOOK REVIEW: Low-Level Caricature
The Trouble With Economic Rationalism edited by Donald Horne (Scribe Publications, 1992.)
BOOK REVIEW: How The Poor Help The Poor
Where Credit Is Due: Income Generating Programmes For The Poor In Developing Countries by Joe Remenyi (IT Publications, 1991.)
BOOK REVIEW: An Agenda For Change
An Agenda For Change: An International Analysis of Industrial Relations in Transition edited by Oliver Clarke and John Niland...
BOOK REVIEW: Capitalism
The Virtues of Capitalism by Arthur Seldon (The Liberty Fund.)
FEATURE: The Compliance Costs of Income Taxation in Australia
The compliance costs of income taxation incurred by Australian individuals and companies are relatively high, indicating...
BOOK REVIEW: Lessons of Confucius
Governing the Market: Economic Theory and the Role of Government in East Asian Industrialisation by Robert Wade (Princeton...
BOOK REVIEW: Soaking the Rich
A Capital Gains Tax for New Zealand by Rick Krever and Neil Brooks (Institute of Policy Studies, 1990.)
FEATURE: A New Classical Response to the Langmore Report
The 1991 Langmore Report rejects the 'New Classical' argument that Australia's current account deficit and external debts...
FEATURE: Land Degradation, Technology and the Market
This article is an explanation of the significant role of technology in Australia's primary industries, explorting the scope...
REVIEW: Green Fingers, Invisible Hand
Markets, Resources and the Environment edited by Alan Moran, Andrew Chisholm and Michael Porter (Allen & Unwin, 1991.)
BOOK REVIEW: The Scope of Spontaneous Order
Order- With or Without Design? Selections from F. A. Hayek's Contribution to the Theory and Application of Spontaneous Orders...
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: The Links Between Monetary Policy and Microeconomic Policy
An exploration of how monetary policy and microeconomic reform can best work toward the intertwined objectives of price stability...
FEATURE: Policies of the European Community Toward Newly Liberated Countries
The European Community could give credibility to the liberalisation of the post-communitist economies of Eastern and Central...
FEATURE: The Tax File Number Scheme: Political Assurances versus Function Creep
When the Australian federal government withdrew its Australia Card proposal in 1987, it resolved to enhance the Tax File...
FEATURE: Economic Rationalism and the Liberal Tradition
Although the present consensus favouring economic rationalism is surviving the recession, the seeds of a possible change...
FEATURE: Superannuation: Panacea for an Ailing Australian Economy?
Superannuation has been identified by some commentators as the answer to Australia's alleged savings, current-account, foreign...
FEATURE: Misleading Impressions: The Recession in the Farm Sector and its Impact on Rural Australia
News from the bush tends to be all bad. Several primary industries and many individual farmers are coping well with the recession,...
FEATURE: The Ethics of Insider Trading
In the second of two articles on business ethics, Norman Barry questions the conventional view that insider trading is intrinsically...
NOTES AND COMMENTS: Enterprise-Specific Productivity and National Policy
Microeconomic reform is now recognised as a critical element of national economic policy.
NOTES AND COMMENTS: The Blessing of Market Capitalism
In Centesimus annus, the Pope is unsparing in his criticism of communism, socialism and (less explicitly) the Catholic flirtation...
Liberating Labour: The Case for Freedom of Contract in Labour Relations
The legitimacy of the welfare state has survived the shift in recent years towards smaller government and a greater role...
Dismantling Socialism: A Preliminary Report
In the eighth John Bonython Lecture, Václav Klaus, Finance Minister of Czechoslovakia, gives an account of his government’s...
FEATURE: The Seen and the Not Seen: Frederic Bastiat's Critique of Protection
Free Trade Versus Protection Debate Continued: The protectionists are down but not out in New Zealand. Protectionist stirrings...
FEATURE: Anicent and Modern Ideas About Infrastructure
Improving the efficiency of infrastructure involves more rational pricing policies and greater scope for the private sector...
FEATURE: Comparable Worth: An Evaluation Nightmare
Although the comparable worth method of wage-setting has so far made little progress in Australia, its chances of being adopted...
DEBATE: Comparing Governments and Markets
The Private Interest Theory Debate: Gordon Tullocks argues.
DEBATE: Clarifying the Role of Ideas
The Private Interest Theory Debate: John Hyde weighs in on the argument.
DEBATE: A Rejoinder
The Private Interest Theory Debate: John Quiggin's rejoinder. Page 5.
BOOK REVIEW: The Foreign Debt Issue
Australia's Foreign Debt: Myths and Realities by John Pitchford (Allen & Unwin, 1990.)
BOOK REVIEW: A Slow Uruguay Round But An Invigorated GATT
The Challenge of Free Trade by Alan Oxley (Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990.)
BOOK REVIEW: The Case for Free Banking
The State and the Monetary System by Kevin Dowd (Philip Allan, 1989.)
FEATURE: Business Ethics and the 'Social Audit'
In the first of two articles on business ethics, Norman Barry examines the argument that business corporations have 'social'...
NOTES & COMMENTS: Constitutional Consequences of the EC Social Charter
The Single European Market Act, providing for the completion of the internal market of the European Community (EC), is intended...
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...
FEATURE: Saying Farewell to Welfare: The End of Sweden's 'Third Way'
The Swedish government's recent proposals to cut public spending and to seek membership of the European Community signify...
FEATURE: There's Nothing Wrong with Australia's Trade Mix
Arguments that Australia should increase its exports of manufactured goods frequently overlook the elementary economics of...
FEATURE: Privatising Australia's Ports
The current reform of Australia's ports has baerly begun to bring them up to international standards of efficiency.
FEATURE: Australia's National Soil Conservation Strategy: Land Use Planning vs Free Markets
Present policies to combat land degradation are based on questionable assumptions and that the problem is for the most part...
BOOK REVIEW: Not Transforming Industrial Relations
Transforming Industrial Relations edited by Michael Easson and Jeff Shaw (Pluto Press, 1990.)
BOOK REVIEW: Apartheid as Rent Seeking
South Africa's War Against Capitalism by Walter Williams (Praeger, 1989.)
BOOK REVIEW: Economic Growth vs Rent Seekers
Growth Recurring: Economic Change in World History by E. L. Jones (Clarendon Press, 1988) and Human History and Social Progress...
FEATURE: Strategic Trade Policies: Respectable Interventionism
Even as Australia's tariff barriers are falling, new arguments against free trade are being advanced, based on 'strategic...
BOOK REVIEW: Public Choice and Public Interest
Wealth, Poverty and Politics by Gordon Tullock (Basil Blackwell, 1988.)
FEATURE: The Green Movement: Its Origins, Goals and Relevance For a Liberal Society
Whereas mainstream environmentalists seek a balance between economic growth and environmental protection, 'hard' environmentalists...
FEATURE: Western Trade Blocs and the New Protectionism
The gains from reversing the rise of non-tariff trade barriers in the European Community and North America and potentially...
FEATURE: Reforming New Zealand's Labour Market: Back to Basics
New Zealand governments have neglected labour market reform, despite the unpopularity of compulsory unionism and of the barriers...
FEATURE: Ending Australia's Inflation: The Need For Radical Monetary Reform
In the Winter 1990 issue of POLICY, Peter Jonson argued that inflation could best be controlled by making this the main task...
FEATURE: Australia's Economic and Social Immigration Policies: A Labour Market Perspective
In the Winter 1989 issue of POLICY, Mark Harrison and John Logan proposed that Australia's annual immigration quota should...
FEATURE: Economic Nationalism in Papua New Guinea: Insitutions and Instruments
Well before becoming politically independent in 1975, Papua New Guinea embarked on the quest for economic independence by...
BOOK REVIEW: Getting Keynes Right
Keyne's Monetary Theory: A Different Interpretation by Allan Meltzer (Cambridge university Press, 1988.)
Do We Need a Reserve Bank?
'Free Banking' is gaining increasing attention as a promising remedy for inflation. Could private agencies be involved in...
FEATURE: Why Microeconomic Reform Won't Reduce Foreign Debt
Pressure on the Australian government to expedite its prorgam of microeconomic reform stems very largely from the belief...
BOOK REVIEW: Funding The States Fairly
Fiscal Equalisation, Allocative Efficiency and State Undertakings: The Commonwealth Grants Commission 1988 Report on Relativities...
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...
The Third World Debt Crisis: Can’t Pay or Won’t Pay?
In this Occasional Paper, Lord Bauer questions the widely held belief that debt service is a major cause of poverty in Third...
FEATURE: The Politics of Successful Structural Reform
OECD studies show that politicians tend, worldwide, to avoid structural reform until it is forced upon them by economic stagnation,...
FEATURE: Putting Australian Railways On The Right Track
The Australian railway industry has begun to take steps to contain its huge deficits. Ken Ogden identifies the causes of...
FEATURE: Criminal Choice: An Economic View Of Life Outside The Law
Unlike the dominant sociological approach to crime and punishment, the economic approach treats criminals as rational choosers...
FEATURE: A New Political History of Economic Growth
Economic historians have emphasised Britain's 'unique' industrial revolution at the expense of earlier periods of rapid economic...
LETTERS: Wolfgang Kasper Vs Tony Makin On Foreign Debt
Does Foreign Debt matter?
FEATURE: Why Worry About The Capital Account Surplus?
Official gloom about Australia's current account deficit can be dispelled by contemplating the benefits of the corresponding...
FEATURE: Foreign Investment In Rural Australia: The Positive Side
A summary of the benefits of foreign investment and shows how it is enhancing Australia's rural export capacity.
FEATURE: How To Privatise Natural Monopolies
Opponents of privitisation often point out that transferring monopolies intact from the public sector to the private sector...
REVIEW ARTICLE: The Economic of Status: Robert Frank's "Choosing The Right Pond"
How much welfare would we forgo to retain our social status? A great deal, according to Robert H. Frank, whose book Choosing...
BOOK REVIEW: Concensus Rules OK
Making Economic Policy in Australia 1983-1988 by Michael Keating and Geoff Dixon (Longman Cheshire, 1989.)
BOOK REVIEW: An ABC of Trading Blocs
Unequal Trade: The Economics of Discriminatory International trade Practices by Richard Pomfret (Basil Blackwell, 1988.)
Regulating for Competition? Trade Practices Policy in a Changing Economy
Arguments for a greater reliance on market forces to protect consumer welfare are explored in this collection by leading...
FEATURE: High Interest Rates: Problems and Solutions
The Australian government justifies its tight monetary policy and the high interest rates that flow from it by the need to...
FEATURE: Retirement Income Policies for a Dynamic Economy
Economic and demographic pressures are prompting governments to abandon their earlier commitments to the universal provision...
FEATURE: How Government Purchasing and Offset Programs Distort the Economy
Purchasing preference and offset policies are little-known forms of industry protection, yet can be just as damaging as the...
BOOK REVIEW: Much Ado About Little: An Attempt To Restore Leviathan
Microeconomics and the Public Economy: A Defence of the Leviathan by John Cullis and Philip Jones (Basil Blackwell, Oxford,...
FEATURE: Does Australia Really Have a Current Account Problem?
Australia's current account deficit consists very largely of additions to the private sector's foreign debt. John Pitchford...
FEATURE: Some Doubts About a Consumption Tax
The introduction of a broad-based consumption tax in Australia is widely regarded as inevitable. Terry Dwyer and John Logan...
FEATURE: Faulty Lines in the Telecom Bill
In its May 1988 Economic Statement the federal govenrment foreshadowed a Telecommunications Bill that would promote access,...
FEATURE: Home Ownership- Auistralian Dream or Australian Disease?
Government ministers sometimes criticise the banks for charging high mortgage interest rates but in fact rely on them to...
FEATURE: The Failing Symbiosis: Labour Market Regulation and the Welfare State in Australia
'Symbiosis' is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as 'union between organisms each of which depends for its existence...
FEATURE: The Open Society Revisited
Dr Naomi Moldofsky insists that the Open Society that Karl Popper advocates is impossible without an open market system.
FEATURE: How To Cut Public Spending
Government ministers claim that public spending cannot be further reduced without harming the welfare of the Australian people....
FEATURE: Monetary Policy: Accountability and Independence
Official reluctance to publicise changes to monetary policy has focussed attention on the policy role of the Reserve Bank...
FEATURE: Depoliticising Australia Post
The recent revelation of Australia Post's plans to close many uneconomic post offices and to replace them with post agencies...
FEATURE: Long-Duration Unemployment: 'Losers' or 'Choosers'?
Regulation of labour markets and the operation of the welfare state in Australia interact to encourage the emergence of long-duration...
Social Welfare: The Changing Debate
David D. Green’s monograph Social Welfare: The Changing Debate, summarises the research findings and arguments of several...
Restraining Leviathan: Small Government in Practice
This collection seeks to increase our understanding of the scope and opportunities we have for making substantial and permenent...
Beyond the Current Pessimism
Professor Ray Ball gives a personal interpretation of the historical roots of Australia’s economic malaise.
Takeovers and Corporate Control: Towards a New Regulatory Environment
These papers from a CIS conference on takeovers represent a wide variety of viewpoints on the pros and cons of an unregulated...
Australian Takeovers: The Evidence 1972-1985
The Enemies of Progress
In the third John Bonython Lecture, Ralph Harris recounts the advances that economic freedom and entrepreneurship have brought...
Corporate Control, Economic Efficiency and Shareholder Justice
This book is an examination of the theoretical background and economics of the market for corporate control.
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...
Private Correspondence: Competition or Monolopy in Australia's Postal Services?
Dr Albon believes that the most important and practical way to improve postal services to the public is to allow competition.
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...
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...
The Case Against the Arbitration Commission
The Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission is the main obstacle to much-needed reform of industrial relations...
Capital Xenophobia: Australia's Controls of Foreign Investment
An early study by the CIS which supported the lifting of controls on foreign investment in Australia.
Changes in the Air? Issues in Domestic Aviation Policy
The papers in this volume examine various aspects of domestic aviation in Australia in light of economic research and attempt...
Occupational Regualtion and the Public Interest
Edited by Robert Albon and Greg Lindsay with contributions from 12 authors. Does occupational regulation serve the public...
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...
Democracy in Crisis
Michael C. Jensen and William H. Meckling argue that the capacity of modern governments to transfer property rights unilaterally...
The Resource Rent Tax. A Penality of Risk Taking
We see no evidence that the Australian resources industries are not competitive. Therefore if the RRT were a true resources...
The Entreprenuer in Society
These papers explore the role of the entreprenuer in society.
The Economics of Bureacracy and Statutory Authorities
This book looks at how government enterprises and regulatory agencies are evaluated by their efficiency and in terms of...
Rationalising Rustic Regulation
A landmark discussion of agricultural policy in Australia. Written in 1982, Ted Sieper asks 'who gains' with respect to...
A New Financial Revolution? An International Review of the Campbell Report
A Review of the Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Australian Financial System (1981) which was considered the most...
Lessons from the Ord
The Ord Scheme, indeed, offers ample ammunition for those who take the extreme view that responsibility is directly proportional...
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,...
The Rhetoric and Reality of Income Redistribution
In this survey of a variety of aspects of income redistribution, Gordon Tullock asks not that we should necessarily change...
Taxation, Inflation and the Role of the Government
In this publication, the proceedings of a seminar conducted by the Centre for Independent Studies, Milton Friedman is joined...
Rent Control: Costs and Consequences
Essays on the history and the economic and social consequences of rent control on Australia and overseas.
On Buying a Job: The Regulation of a Taxicab in Canberra
Throughout the world, the taxi industry attracts government regulation. Government agencies determine what vehicles may be...
Wage-Price Control: Myth and Reality
Edited by Sudha R Shenoy with a foreword by Professor C.G.F. Simkin. Contributions by Samuel Britan, Michael Darby, Lee Eckermann,...
FEATURE: Saving Italy From Itself
In his budget of 10 July 1992, Guiliano Amato, Italy's new Prime Minister, increased taxes and cut public spending in an...
