The business community has spent 20 years pushing tirelessly for labour market flexibility but, now that it has it, some have figured out that it is a double-edged sword. In a flexible labour market, wages for skilled workers in high demand can rise really quickly. Who knew! Last week the Business Council of Australia (BCA)

Why can the Pharmacy Guild get away with a deal with the government which limits competition? Rather than admit that it is a union working to maximise the income of its members, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia prefers to position itself as a ”professional association” concerned more with improving standards and delivering benefits for the

The idea that the Coalition would oppose an increase in the Commonwealth’s debt ceiling makes about as much economic sense as its hostility to a market-based mechanism to address climate change. But, as with most of Tony Abbott’s big calls, it clearly makes good short-term political sense. In an age of slogans it is much

It is the perceived value of a location, not the cost of construction, that determines the market price for housing. It’s amazing how progressive business has become in Australia. The mining industry’s biggest concern seems to be creating jobs for migrants. The banks just want to help small business grow and the property developers of

Nothing gets interest groups more riled up than a proposal to reduce some regulation or, as business groups like to call the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act (EPBC act), “green tape”. In the green corner, we have the major environment groups arguing that such reductions signal further retreat by government in the face of

Despite all the hoopla, budgets in Australia are rarely transformative or reforming. Indeed, it’s only the theatre and spectacle of budget night that means most people even notice it. If we started each budget with a blank sheet of paper it is inconceivable that year after year we would fund portfolio areas in virtually identical

While it is impolite to say so these days, Canberrans don’t pay much tax. While this week’s Commonwealth budget as well as the ACT’s review of the territory’s tax system back up this conclusion, it is unlikely to have much impact on the calls for lower taxes to take the pressure off the cost of

If the mining industry was a political party, it would make the current federal government look like a success story. The miners are internally divided, running entirely contradictory messages and are increasingly unpopular in the published opinion polls. But luckily for the miners, it is far easier to make billions of dollars selling resources you

The standard excuse for why Australians pay far higher prices than Americans for clothes, consumer goods and cars is to highlight the high transport costs associated with the tyranny of distance. So what is their excuse for more expensive music and software downloads? Dearer data costs due to longer cables? You might assume that because

Wouldn’t it be nice to decide how much you were worth? And wouldn’t it be even better to be able to force people to give you the money you think you deserve? Of course it would, but then again, we can’t all behave like the big four banks. In most industries when customers buy less

The government announcement on Tuesday that it accepts all of the recommendations of the Broadbent inquiry into the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) is a high-water mark in the politics of perception. The commitment to spend $10 billion on renewable energy and energy efficiency helps convince the public that the government takes climate change seriously.

Late last week the ACT electricity price regulator released its draft electricity pricing decision for 2012-13. And the political response couldn’t have been more predictable. The Coalition raced to highlight that, out of an estimated $244 increase in annual household electricity bills, almost $190 was attributable to the carbon price. Labor and the Greens downplayed

If business groups really want a simpler tax system, let’s get rid of unfair tax concessions. Would they agree? In a world of spin there is a simple way to find out what people really mean: give them a choice to make. Big business in Australia is banging on and on about simplifying the tax

The New York Times recently asked its online readers a simple question: should the newspaper check the claims made by politicians before it reports them? The response was a torrent of bemused hostility. What, the readers wanted to know, did the newspaper think its job was? Much has been written in recent years about the

Imagine if you had $30 billion sitting in front of you. And imagine that you had been told to use it to boost the retirement incomes of Australians. Who would you give it to? Would you use some of it to boost the existing age pension? Would you put some of it into the superannuation

There is no doubt that the automotive industry plays an important role in the Australian economy, but there is also no doubt that the Gillard Government’s recent attempts to support it are like providing Panadol to a heart attack victim. It might make them feel a little less pain but it will do nothing to

To assert total costs of the regular process of updating poker machines as a cost of policy reform is simply absurd. No industry in Australia does a better job of taking from those with the least and giving to those with the most than the poker machine industry. The idea that using some of the

Should wealthy art collectors have to contribute to the cost of public galleries if they choose not to visit them, or should their contribution be refunded to help them extend their own collection? Should city residents have to contribute to the cost of upgrading regional hospitals they will never use, or should their contribution be

Summer is a terrific time to build political mountains out of molehills – policies that are not really meant to be acted on H ands up if you support social exclusion. No? Then by the Federal Government’s logic, that means you must support social inclusion. And if you support social inclusion, you must be appalled

It is impossible for politicians to satisfy the conflicting desire for housing affordability while trying to keep home owners happy. Political priorities are often contradictory in Australia. We support individual freedom and liberty, but we accept that, in the war against terror, we must sometimes be searched or delayed at random. We support individuals taking

The road to fiscal recklessness is paved with green intentions as poorly designed climate policy could cost ACT taxpayers millions. It is rare in public debate that you can enter a fight knowing that you can’t possibly lose. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the taxpayers of the ACT, who will likely waste hundreds

It’s often said that the only certain things in life are death and taxes. In reality, of course, if you’re willing to pay lawyers and accountants enough, you might be able to avoid taxes. But no matter how much you spend on doctors, the best you can do is prolong your mortality. And for some,

In a classic Looney Tunes cartoon of the 1950s, Ralph E. Wolf and Sam Sheepdog would clock on at the same time every day at the sheep meadow. When their shift ended, Ralph would stop trying to abduct Sam’s precious sheep and they would both clock off again. Their work done for the day, Ralph

The one thing that unites people about the mining tax is that it is not the best designed tax ever proposed. That should hardly be a surprise given that it was bashed out between the new Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the three biggest mining companies in the first days of her taking office from

Despite Medicare being introduced in 1984 to provide ‘fair and affordable’ health care to all Australians, many are now faced with extra costs for visits to the doctor, having prescriptions filled and diagnostic referrals such as blood tests and x-rays. New research conducted by The Australia Institute reveals that in total Australians are paying more

As with all complex financial products, when it comes to emissions trading, all is not what it seems. Common sense tells us that banks would never lend money to people who have little chance of repaying it, but the collapse of the American banking system taught us that they do. Common sense tells us that

The list of friends for Tony Abbott’s Direct Action Plan continues to shrink. The Australian Industry Greenhouse Network (AIGN) which co-ordinates, among others, the mining and manufacturing industry’s response to climate change issues has rejected the Opposition’s plan saying it would cost far more than the Coalition has claimed. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott responded by

One of the most interesting features of the mining boom is the way that it is opening up old, and unresolved, political and policy debates in Australia. Do we trust that the benefits to the small group of people directly involved in the mining industry will “trickle down” to the rest of us? Should governments

One of the main roles of a prime minister is to determine the priorities of their government. Should we focus on tackling climate change or on indigenous disadvantage, should we focus on making it easier for employers to sack their workers or should we focus on asylum-seekers? Of course with the entire machinery of the

Treasurer Wayne Swan is fond of telling anyone who will listen how much he wants bank customers to “walk down the road and get a better deal”. This sums up the government’s vision for reforming the banking sector: relying on consumers to drive change. Unfortunately, as a senior executive from the Bank of England, Andrew