The Green Institute is conducting a series of ‘Green Schools’ in July and August which offer “an opportunity for in-depth discussion on the big social, economic and environmental issues, learning hands-on skills and meeting like-minded people”. Melbourne 30-31 July, Darwin 6 August and Southwest Queensland 27-29 August. For more information, and to enrol, go to

 The Ross Garnaut-commissioned CSIRO’s report Australians’ views of climate change last year polled 3096 Australians and found that the biggest single predictor of whether Australians believe that global warming is caused by humans is their voting intentions. The CSIRO found that 82 per cent of Greens voters and 63 per cent of Labor voters believed

The Australia Institute has spent a lot of time since 2009 explaining a simple, but often misunderstood feature of emissions trading; once a national target is set any efforts by individuals to reduce ‘their’ emissions simply frees up spare pollution permits for other polluters. Having identified the problem the Institute also proposed a solution in

”I’ve knocked the brick wall down; this is going through, this is done, full stop.” Prime Minister Julia Gillard, 10 July 2011. The good news is that the modest carbon price announced yesterday will neither impoverish Australians nor bankrupt our economy. The bad news is that the modest carbon price announced yesterday won’t save the

Help us raise $40,000 from $20,000  Independent ideas can only come from independent funding, so last month we asked you to help fund such ideas by making a tax-deductible end of financial year donation to the Australia Institute. In exciting news, the Institute has been offered a ‘Challenge Grant’ from a wonderfully generous supporter who

TAIHow many jobs is 23,510, really? Recasting the mining job loss debate, B Chapman and K Lounkaew, 6 June On the wrong track: The case for abandoning the promised $7 billion subsidies to Australia’s dirtiest coal-fired power stations, R Denniss, 25 May The rise and rise of online retail, B Irvine, D Richardson, J Fear

 ‘Only tiny’ carbon tax effect on mining jobs, The Age, 6 June $10b hiding in super overlap: thinktank, The Canberra Times, 7 June The price of shopping online versus the shopping mall, Online Opinion, 27 May Study questions level of carbon tax job losses, ABC The World Today, 6 June Go back to Between the

The Government has struggled to sell its message that households will receive compensation under a carbon price. There has also been far too little explanation as to what a well-designed compensation scheme can achieve. It would seem that some politicians who aspire to being good economic managers do not seem to understand a simple, but

In what appears to be an act of petty political recrimination, the new Victorian Coalition Government has slashed its funding for Environment Victoria, the state’s leading independent environment group (not to be confused with Victoria’s Environment Protection Authority, a statutory body). The recent state budget included no further funding for any of the programs that

It is commonplace in Australian policy debates for groups who think they will be adversely affected by proposed policies to provide estimates of the undesirable consequences of change. A popular and fashionable form relates to predictions of job losses for the groups affected, usually accompanied by counter-claims made by the government of the day or

Independent ideas can only come from independent funding, so last month we asked you to help fund such ideas by making a tax-deductible end of financial year donation to the Australia Institute. In exciting news, the Institute has been offered a ‘Challenge Grant’ from a wonderfully generous supporter who is willing to give us $20,000

Help us conduct more ‘research that matters’ with an End of Financial Year donation Richard’s reflections on the federal budget Recent publications Recent media Help us conduct more ‘research that matters’ with an End of Financial Year donation The Treasurer has just done the books for Australia and many of you will be preparing to

Why the obsession with a budget surplus?, The Drum, 9 May ‘Green jobs’ won’t save the debate, Climate Spectator, 6 May Retailers battered by online shopping, ABC Radio National Breakfast, 9 May Dick Smith’s foreign food fightback, A Current Affair, 12 May Go back to Between the Lines

Surplus fetish: The political economy of the surplus, deficit and debt, D Richardson, 9 May The industries that cried wolf, R Denniss, 18 April The price of disloyalty: Why competition has failed to lower ATM fees, J Fear, 17 February Complementary or contradictory? An analysis of the design of climate policies in Australia, R Denniss

Once upon a time the justification for delivering the federal budget speech at 7.30pm was so that the stock market and money market would have time to absorb the information before the next day’s trading began. But these days, with many Australian shares listed on international stock exchanges and the Australian dollar traded just as

The Treasurer has just done the books for Australia and many of you will be preparing to do your own as the end of the financial year approaches. Don’t forget that all donations of $2 and above to The Australia Institute are tax-deductible. Independent ideas can only come from independent funding. While you will be

Australia: a low-tax country The industries that cried wolf High stakes in gambling reform Recent publications Recent media Australia: a low-tax country  The federal budget will be handed down in a fortnight’s time and the Treasurer Wayne Swan has taken to the airwaves to warn us it will be lean and “unpopular”. Predictably, the Government

The high price of ATM promiscuity, ABC The National Interest, 8 April Hiding $50b: down periscope, The Canberra Times, 29 April Revealed: banks escape tough rules, The Age, 27 April Go back to Between the Lines

The industries that cried wolf, R Denniss, 18 April The price of disloyalty: Why competition has failed to lower ATM fees, J Fear, 17 February Complementary or contradictory? An analysis of the design of climate policies in Australia, R Denniss and A Macintosh, 9 February Go back to Between the Lines

No doubt inspired by the success of the mining sector in its fight against the Government’s Resource Super Profits Tax , ClubsAustralia recently tried to flex its muscles by launching a $20 million campaign against the Government’s proposed gambling reforms instigated by Independent MP Andrew Wilkie . The blokey ‘It’s un-Australian’ ad warned punters that

 As a child, the story of the boy who cried wolf would have kept many of us from telling fibs or raising a false alarm. Yet, in the adult world of business it seems Aesop’s fable doesn’t carry much weight, or at least when it comes to discussing the impact of putting a price on

 The federal budget will be handed down in a fortnight’s time and the Treasurer Wayne Swan has taken to the airwaves to warn us it will be lean and “unpopular”. The recent natural disasters have cut $9 billion from economic output and tax collections are down this financial year by $4.5 billion. But, the Treasurer

Nuclear industry hedging its bets on safety Just how important is the mining sector to Australia? The hidden unemployed Do you or your colleagues need to know more about economics? New contact details for The Australia Institute Nuclear industry hedging its bets on safety As Japan faces the aftermath of the triple tragedies of earthquake,

New courses offered by The Australia Institute The Australia Institute offers tailored courses on understanding economic concepts and how they apply to your specific circumstances. Whether you’re involved in the creation of policy, advocacy or you just need to understand some economics to better do your job the Australia Institute can provide a course to

Level 1 Endeavour House, 1 Franklin St  ManukaACT 2603 AUSTRALIA  Tel +61 2 6130 0530

The official (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate now stands at 5 per cent and there is talk again that Australia has virtually attained full employment. However, other labour market data released in March shows that the official figures hide the real extent of unemployment in Australia.  For example, while the number of unemployed at the moment

Just how important is the mining sector to Australia? Sure, we all know that Australia is in the midst of a mining boom but does it deserve to be considered the darling of the economy? New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that in the year to February 2011 305,700 jobs were

As Japan faces the aftermath of the triple tragedies of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear pollution the world is again forced to confront the consequences of the faith it has placed in nuclear energy. While the public is largely united in its desire to move away from nuclear energy the uranium industry remains upbeat in its