by Ebony Bennett[Originally published on The Canberra Times, 22 April 2019] Australia is having a huge national debate about taxes and tax reform that’s mostly missing the point. There’s too much focus on costings and not enough analysis of who is getting the biggest slice of pie – here’s a hint: it’s not those struggling

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on Guardian Australia, 17 April 2019] When a magician says you must look carefully at the cards that they’re shuffling, they don’t want you to see what their assistant is doing. And when a politician tells you to focus on one key economic issue, it’s a sure thing they don’t want

by Ebony Bennett[Originally published in The Canberra Times, 06 April 2019] Look out, it’s a trap! The centrepiece of the Coalition’s budget is more than $300 billion worth of income tax cuts. This sounds great in theory. In reality, the Coalition has committed to a radical plan to flatten Australia’s progressive tax system. If implemented,

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on The Guardian Australia, 03 April 2019] Riddle me this: if “free market” politicians think that the role of governments is to get out of the way, then what do they do all day while “managing the economy”? Interest-rate policy has been delegated to the Reserve Bank of Australia and the

Australians tend to bring a fair bit of swagger to international comparisons of economic performance. After all, Australia has experienced twenty-eight consecutive years of economic growth without a recession—a record for industrial countries. We are the ‘lucky country’, with one of the highest material living standards in the world, a wealth of natural resources, and a ‘no worries’ ability to withstand global economic shocks.

by Ebony Bennett[Originally published in the Canberra Times, 23 March 2019]  Australia has never had a federal treasurer who wasn’t a man and has had more finance ministers named John than female finance ministers. It doesn’t take an economics degree to know those numbers are a problem. With the federal budget near, we learned this

Like a dog that doesn’t know what to do when it catches the car it’s been chasing, the business community doesn’t seem to know what to do now they’ve pushed wages growth to record lows and the profit share of GDP to all-time highs. While some might read the room, bank their gains and mouth some platitudes about sharing said gains, the Business Council of Australia (BCA) and the Coalition are not for turning.

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on The Guardian Australia, 20 Feb 2019] It’s hard to believe that anyone who receives larges cheques from the government can call themselves a “self-funded” retiree, but hey, this is modern Australia and powerful groups get to call themselves whatever they want. Sure, the full age pension is only $23,823.80 per

by Ebony Bennett[Originally published in the Canberra Times, 8 Feb 2019] One of the first things you learn as a child is not to be greedy. It’s a fairly straightforward lesson. Yet, greed is the ultimate culprit identified by Justice Kenneth Haynes in his banking royal commission report. Worse still, the current hysteria surrounding franking

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on Guardian Australia, 6 Feb 2019] At a time when the number of people studying economics is at a record low, the number of politicians citing economics 101 seems to be at a record high. Take our current prime minister, Scott Morrison. When asked to provide evidence that closing tax loopholes

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 4 Feb 2019] Few people think carbon pricing is as important as Tony Abbott does. Not only was repealing the carbon tax his biggest achievement as prime minister, nearly five years later, he still can’t stop talking about it. Nothing would excite him more than the

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released its detailed biennial survey of employment arrangements this week (Catalogue 6306.0, “Employee Earnings and Hours“). Once every two years, it takes a deeper dive into various aspects of work life. Buried deep in the dozens of statistical tables was a very surprising breakdown of employment by size of workplace. 

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Finacial Review] Some political parties are coping better with the social and technological transitions that are reshaping Australia than others. Just as Kodak couldn’t adapt to the digital era and Nokia couldn’t adapt to the smartphone era, it’s not obvious that all of Australia’s current political parties will

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on The Guardian Australia] It’s time we talked about tax. Bill Shorten wants to close tax loopholes and spend more on schools and hospitals. Prime minister Scott Morrison wants to scare voters about the perils of a high-taxing Labor government. And the business community still want the Liberal’s big cut in the company

ABC recently announced plans for a new 6-part television drama called “Diary of an Uber Driver.”  The Centre for Future Work’s Director Jim Stanford wonders if this drama will truly constitute insightful drama – or whether it will serve to whitewash the labour practices of a controversial, exploitive industry.

Workers produce more, but get paid less. Business invests less in real capital, but their profits grow. Technology advances at breakneck pace, but so many jobs are degraded and menial (not to mention horribly paid). What gives? Australia’s labour market truly seems “upside down.”

Workforce (a labour relations bulletin published by Thomson-Reuters) recently surveyed major IR figures in Australia on what they saw as the big issues in 2018, and what they expect as the major talking points for 2019. Jim Stanford, economist and Centre for Future Work director, was one of those surveyed, and here are his remarks.  What

In this commentary, Centre for Future Work Associate Dr. Anis Chowdhury discusses the economic benefits of industry-wide collective bargaining. In addition to supporting wage growth, industry-wide wage agreements generate significant efficiency benefits, by pressuring lagging firms to improve their innovation and productivity performance. The experience of other countries (such as Germany and Singapore) suggests that

by Richard Denniss [This article was originally published in the Australian Financial Review] It’s easier to develop long-run visions than solve short-term problems, which presumably explains why governments facing election defeat seem to care more about what future governments should do, than what their government isn’t doing. Once upon a time treasurers were responsible for

Recent legal decisions are starting to challenge the right of employers to deploy workers in “casual” positions on an essentially permanent basis. For example, the Federal Court recently ruled that a labour-hire mine driver who worked regular shifts for years was still entitled to annual leave, even though he was supposedly hired as a “casual.” This decision has alarmed business lobbyists who reject any limit on their ability to deploy casual labour, while avoiding traditional entitlements (like sick pay, annual leave, severance rights, and more). For them, a “casual worker” is anyone who they deem to be casual; but that open door obviously violates the intent of Australia’s rules regarding casual loading.

by Richard Denniss, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute. [Originally published in the Guardian Australia 03.10.18] Greed is good. Or so said Michael Douglas’ character Gordon Gekko in the 1980s hit film Wall Street. Gekko went further, stating “Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward

by Richard Denniss. [This article originally appeared on The Guardian Australia 19.09.2018] The royal commission Australia really needs is one into the spectacular – almost complete – failure of our regulators to protect the vulnerable from the greedy. While it is clear that many of our so-called watchdogs are little more than lap dogs, what

by Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director of The Australia Institute. [This article originally appeared in the Canberra Times 08.09.18] Watching Brazil’s National Museum burn this week was a tragic reminder that, if we don’t take care, we can snap the threads that bind us to our history forever. Over a matter of hours, tens of millions

by Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director of The Australia Institute. [This article originally appeard in The Canberra Times 24.08.18] I really enjoy the blood sport of Australian federal politics but I consider it a benign vice on my part, to be discussed only among consenting adults, mostly fellow Canberrans and people on Twitter. I confess I

By Richard Denniss, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute. [View this article in the Australian Financial Review] Having abandoned the principles of small government, the right of Australian politics are now urging Australia to embrace Donald Trump’s attack on international agreements. Is there any institution these so-called “conservatives” aren’t willing to wreck in pursuit of

By Richard Denniss, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute [Read in the Sydney Morning Herald here] Economic rationalism and neoliberalism are dead in Australia. In an unexpected twist, the idea that markets are good and governments are bad was killed by the right wing of Australian politics, who simply couldn’t resist the desire to shovel

By Richard Denniss, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute. [Read this article in the Syndey Morning Herald] One thing that unites the Australian Parliament is that subsidies are a great idea. Whether it’s the Liberals’ enthusiasm for subsidising weapons exports, the Nationals’ love of subsidising coal mines, Labor’s love of subsidising manufacturing or the Greens

By Richard Denniss, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute [Read in the Australian Financial Review here] The budget emergency is over. Even though Commonwealth debt has risen from $317 billion to $561 billion. Since Tony Abbott was elected, declaring a fiscal emergency, the Coalition has now flicked the switch to optimism and proposing $200 billion

By Richard Denniss, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute [This article orininally appeared in the AFR] If Malcolm Turnbull were serious about the cutting the company tax rate he would simply push for a carbon tax to fund it. If the Greens didn’t support him, Labor almost certainly would. In one fell swoop he’d deliver the tax

Most Australians know in their guts that it’s pretty hard to find a traditional permanent job these days.  And now the statistics confirm it: less than half of employed Australians have one of those “standard” jobs.  And more than half experience one or more dimensions of insecurity: including part-time, irregular, casual, contractor, and marginally self-employed jobs.