by Richard Denniss[Originally published on Guardian Australia, 12 June 2019] If renewables weren’t getting cheaper, would Australia still want to tackle climate change? And if world demand for coal wasn’t declining, would we still want to stop the Adani coalmine being built? After 30 years of democratic failures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in the

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 11 June 2019] How good is the Australian economy? Not very. It’s as if months of prime ministerial promises that the economy was strong had absolutely no impact on employers’ desire to boost wages or consumers’ ability to spend. GDP growth is at its lowest levels

by Richard Denniss[Originally Published on Guardian Australia, 29 May 2019] While Australian political debate has never seemed more sharply divided, the philosophical lines between left and right have never seemed more blurred. The economy is always in transition, and people are always losing and finding jobs, but – after decades of the right being contemptuous

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 27 May 2019] There’s no doubt the Adani coal mine helped the Liberal National Party win votes in North Queensland but there’s also no doubt it helped them lose a lot of votes – and economic credibility – in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. And while the triumphalism of

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on The Guardian Australia, 15 May 2019] It’s now 12 years (and seven prime ministers) since John Howard promised to introduce a price on carbon and – despite emissions having increased to a new high and a number of big coal fired power stations having shut down – Australia still doesn’t

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 16 May 2019] The political debate about tax has become unmoored from the economics of tax. The idea that cutting taxes is good for the economy and collecting more revenue is bad for the economy is not just simplistic, it’s wrong. But it should be no

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on The Guardian Australia, 02 May 2019]  Australians are asked to either vote ‘above the line’ in the Senate by expressing a preference for at least six political parties, or vote ‘below the line’ by expressing a preference for at least 12 individual candidates. Photograph: Paul Crock/AFP/Getty Images You can’t name

The Coalition is spruiking local pork barrel projects because its poorest supporters won’t benefit from its massive tax cuts. by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 29 April 2019] For a man with a marketing background, it’s surprising that Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ignored the credo that ”all politics is local” when selling his

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 Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 16 April 2019] Scott Morrison hopes he can make voters as scared of electric cars as he made them of refugees. It’s a tough ask but credit where it’s due: given his party managed to make a swath of voters afraid of wind turbines and fibre

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

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 01 April 2019] The one thing that unites the major parties on climate change is that neither of them still believe carbon pricing is central to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, the party sticking to the proposition that a carbon price is the most efficient way

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on Guardian Australia, 20 March 2019] Conservatives love subsidies because they know that they work. It’s why they spend $11bn subsidising private schools and $6bn subsidising private health insurance. It’s why they’re so keen to subsidise new coal mines and coal-fired power stations. And of course, it’s the reason that they are so obsessed

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, 6 March 2019] Interests ahead of ideas, friends before philosophy, denial instead of debate. The desperate rush by “law and order” conservatives to defend a child rapist has shown there is no principle that the right of Australian politics won’t abandon in order to protect one of their inner

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in The Australian Financial Review, 5 March 2019] Cultural symbols have replaced price signals at the heart of conservative politics. There’s now no better way for Australian conservatives to virtue signal than to support the construction of new coal mines. The Coalition is no longer neo, nor liberal – it simply

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 Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Financial Review, 19 Feb 2019] Millions of people in developing countries jumped straight from having no phone to having a mobile phone and so too will thousands of villages in developing countries jump from having no grid electricity to their own renewable energy. Leapfrogging old technologies can save billions.

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

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

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

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