Remembering Bert Kelly
In my last piece, Remembering Frederick Douglass, I discussed the evils and folly of centralised wage-fixing which, amongst other things, prevented people – young people in particular – from getting a start in the workforce; a foot on that first rung of the employment ladder. Today, we look at centralized wage-fixing’s partner-in-crime – tariff protection. The other side of the micro-economic...
Eye-Opening Dispatches From Vietnam
After three long years of covid lockdown-induced solitary confinement, a loyal Liberty Itch subscriber cut loose, left Australia for South-East Asia and found herself in Vietnam. Animated by what she saw, I started to receive her much-welcomed dispatches about daily life there. Now, if you read any 1960s and 1970s history, you know Vietnam is communist. But what my friend’s streetscape dispatches reveal...
VOTE NOW! Tucker Carlson or Ben Shapiro?
Let’s do something different today, yes? I’m normally beavering away, sharing my opinions with you. Today, though, you’re in the driver’s seat. I’d like to hear from you. So this is what we’re going to do together … I’ll give you a short video to watch. It’s only 1:54 minutes long; You watch it. It’s a discussion between Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro. They...
This Tax To GDP Rate Is Mind-Blowing!
With the Commonwealth Budget due to be presented later today, Australians should reflect on the words of Winston Churchill, who wisely observed that “there is nothing government can give you that it hasn't taken from you in the first place.” Such clarity seems missing from our contemporary economic and public finance debates. There is a myth, even an attempt at...
ANSWER: The Carlson-Shapiro Question
I admit it. There I was on 27 February 2023, making a little mischief with my article: VOTE NOW! Tucker Carlson or Ben Shapiro? Well, it was mischief-making in the sense that I like to sharply define the line between liberal and conservative and then, with all the goodwill in the world, provoke people to think and explore these differences. There is a difference, you...
Achieving The Elusive Balanced Budget
Fun facts about Australia’s debt at the end of the following governments … 37th Parliament (Keating, Labor) … $96 billion 41st Parliament (Howard, Coalition) … $58 billion (down 40%) 42nd Parliament (Rudd, Labor) … $147 billion (up 153%) 43rd Parliament (Gillard, Labor) … $257 billion (up 75%) 43rd Parliament (Rudd, Labor) … $257 billion (short period) 44th Parliament (Abbott, Coalition) … $369 billion (up 44%) 45th Parliament (Turnbull, Coalition) … $532 billion (up...
FREE! The Kerry Packer Classical Liberal Masterclass
Some thirty plus years ago, a fellow by the name of Kerry Packer appeared before a House of Representatives Inquiry into Print Media. The context of the inquiry was that the owner of the main metropolitan newspapers and classifieds, Fairfax, had gone broke. And with Fairfax having gone broke, Packer was trying to buy into the re-floated business. This was a...
Talkin’ About My Generation (Part 1)
In his excellent Liberty Itch post Golden Years last week, Max Payne writes, “By the time today’s young people are finally ready (or allowed) to retire, they may find they face a double challenge. First, their superannuation funds might have been ransacked by previous generations; second, the availability of quality care may be limited due to the challenge of...
The Simon-Ehrlich Wager
Human history is replete with apocalyptists. People who believe that the end of world is nigh and that only complete power, in their hands of course, can save the world. A famous bet was made in September 1980 that challenged this thinking. In 1980, economist Julian Simon challenged biologist Paul Ehrlich to a bet based on their opposing views on...
Better The Devil You Live Next To
There are plenty of things you cannot do with your own land. Sometimes you can’t chop down a tree, plant a blackberry bush, or start a bonfire. In heritage suburbs you might not be able to knock down your house, or paint your current one any colour you like. Regardless of where you are, you cannot add as many storeys as...
