Economics
Pro-Natalist Policies – The Jury is Out
“By 2050, over three-quarters (155 of 204) of countries will not have high enough fertility rates to sustain population size over time; this will increase to 97% of countries (198 of 204) by 2100.” Global fertility in 204 countries and territories, 1950–2021, with forecasts to 2100: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021, Lancet. Fertility rates...
Free Markets Work Better for Energy
Energy is again front and centre in the news with the debate over the merits of nuclear energy becoming mainstream. But then last week the Prime Minister announced a new scheme to subsidise the manufacture of solar panels in Australia. One wonders whether this is to support industry or just to close down a debating point against solar -...
The Rule of Law is Being Ignored by Conservatives
The High Court recently ruled that: - if immigration detention is not a practical step towards a person being removed from the country, the detention amounts to punishment, and - governments can only mete out punishment if they are sentencing someone for a crime. This ruling led to the release of around 140 people who were in immigration detention but not on...
None of your Business
Housing affordability is a perennial issue that seems to be spilling over into the political domain in a way that is more divisive and acute than ever. And as usual, the political class is more interested in sounding like they are engaging with the issue than actually addressing it. Oddly enough it is the left side of politics that has...
The Everyday Libertarian
In today's politically charged atmosphere, evangelical libertarians often stray into polarising debates around topics like firearms or drug legalisation. Is there a subtler, more effective approach? I suggest the “everyday libertarian mindset”. It involves reframing common complaints and concerns through the lens of smaller government and individual liberty. I often hear myself responding to complaints about government by saying “that’s why...
The Missing Ingredient – Assimilation
When Al Grassby was Immigration Minister in the Whitlam government in the early 1970s, he announced that multiculturalism was to be Australia’s future policy. Assimilation was over. There was a time when Australia actively promoted assimilation. It was the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and applied to Aborigines, varied by state and location, involved the removal of vulnerable children...
E-Scooters: A Two Wheeled Burden?
Since approximately 2016 there has been a rapid increase in personal and for-hire electric scooters (e-scooters) in cities around the world. Over 600 cities now have e-scooter for-hire services and, globally, the electric scooter market is valued at more than AUD $49 billion and growing at 10% per year. In Australia, there was an 800% increase in e-scooters from...
Part II:Programmable Money
Two years ago the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Sir John Cunliffe, spoke the most sinister sentence I’d heard in a long while. The menace was unmistakable: “giving your children pocket money but programming the money so that it couldn’t be used for sweets.” This statement was offered in the context of Central Bank Digital Currencies. Let me explain...
Brave New World Wide Web
The reverse correlation between the internet’s growing accessibility and its diminishing freedom can only be arrested by changes in user habits Much has been made of the ACMA ‘misinformation bill’ and its potential impact on free speech online in Australia. But the internet hasn’t been a bastion of free expression for quite some time now, and like always, it ultimately...
The New UAE Corporate Tax
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is famous for, among other things, zero tax. That ended this year. The UAE now has a 9% tax rate for all but a very few exempted industries. The implementation of a corporate tax is not because the UAE needs the money to build new roads, hospitals, schools or public facilities. The UAE is home...
