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Monthly Archives: January 2016

Another leading economist called for regulated asset write-downs

Leading economist Professor Ross Garnaut has called for the write-downs in the values of regulated electricity networks’ assets. In a recent speech (available here), Garnaut said: “The falling costs of decentralised power and storage open up the possibility of reducing costs of power supply to users of power throughout the State. But only if the […]

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Chi-X demonstrates why governments should not protect monopolies

Yesterday, alternative share trading venue Chi-X announced the sale of its operations in Australia, Hong Kong and Japan, reportedly for about $570 million (for The Australian‘s coverage of the sale, see here). This serves as a reminded of the benefits of market reform and competition – and of the need to not let vested interests […]

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Taxi regulation in Adelaide – Darryl Gobbett

Regular contributor Darryl Gobbett on taxi regulation: The attitude of the SA Government to the licensing of Uber in SA should get us all thinking about what is the purpose of the regulation of taxis in the SA metropolitan area. (As an aside readers should note Section 45 (2) of the Passenger Transport Act 1994 […]

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Lessons for governments from taxis vs Uber

In an article in today’s Australian (available here,), I argue that governments can learn valuable lessons from the current battle between the taxi industry and Uber, as well as from past battles over government protection of market power (such as the tariff wall and AWB’s export wheat single desk). I draw 5 key lessons – […]

Posted in Economic reform, Economic regulation, Paul Kerin, Public policy | Tagged |

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