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Category: Economic growth
A new life for Whyalla – Michael O’Neil and Peter Gill
Whyalla’s ‘death notice’ has been written a number of times over the past 40 years, beginning with the closure of the shipyards in 1978, continuing with predictions of doom in the lead-up to the carbon tax, and most recently, as what was once the BHP steelworks clung to life, suffocating in debt and despair under […]
Changing the definition of Horizontal Fiscal Equalisation – by Robert Schwarz
The Commonwealth Treasurer and the Productivity Commission (PC) seem intent on providing a greater share of goods and services tax (GST) grants to Western Australia (WA).
But do you have to change the definition of horizontal fiscal equalization (HFE) to deliver a fiscal advantage to WA, being the outlier fiscally strongest State, at the expense of […]
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Horizontal fiscal equalisation and disincentive effects – by Jim Hancock
A number of submissions to the Productivity Commission’s Horizontal Fiscal Equalisation (HFE) Inquiry have argued that GST grants should be distributed between the States equal per capita. But conventional policy goals such as promoting efficiency, equity and productivity at the national level provide no support for this prescription.
NSW and WA have argued to the Inquiry […]
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States’ submissions to Productivity Commission Horizontal Fiscal Equalisation Inquiry
There are some interesting submissions at the PC’s Horizontal Fiscal Equalisation (HFE) Inquiry website.
Victoria, Queensland, SA, Tasmania, ACT and NT are all in favour of HFE albeit with some suggestions for improvement. None of these States buy the line that HFE is undermining reform, growth or productivity. NSW and WA are opposed to HFE and […]
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Ways in which the current skilled migration system doesn’t meet SA’s needs
SACES has released the second of three reports as part of our research into national migration policy in the context of challenges facing economic and business development in South Australia, particularly for regional South Australia.
Our latest report takes a closer look at some of the concerns raised by business owners and representatives about ways in which the current […]
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National economy slows, while South Australia records solid final demand growth
As widely expected by markets, the national economy slowed in the first three months of the 2017. National Accounts data released today indicate that Australia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 0.3 per cent in real seasonally adjusted terms in the March quarter 207, following a 1.1 per cent rise in the December quarter.
GDP growth […]
A skilled migration system that meets South Australia’s needs
Australia’s skilled migration system has been in the news recently with the Commonwealth Government’s announcement that it is significantly tightening the main route for temporary skilled migration, the 457 visa. As with much of the recent policy around migration, this seems to be driven by the needs of Sydney and Melbourne, where governments are struggling […]
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Benefits of free trade and better FTA governance – Paul Kerin on Alan Jones
Paul Kerin appeared on Alan Jones’ radio program yesterday making the case for free trade and the need to improve governance arrangements that would help ensure that future Free Trade Agreements deliver more of the considerable benefits that are potentially available. This follows on from the article that 7 leading economists (including former Industries Assistance […]
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The looming downside of household leverage – Mike Fitzsimmons & Paul Kerin
Today’s Australian contains a piece by Mike Fitzsimmons and Paul Kerin. The authors note the substantial increase is household leverage over the last quarter of a century, particularly the rise (more than tripling) of household debt relative to cash disposable income. While this may in part be a good thing (reflecting better credit access in […]
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Call for key reforms in trade negotiations
I was honoured to be one of the economists who put their names to a major feature in today’s Australian, titled “Free trade mythology”. Despite the title, we are very much pro free trade – but we call for a number of reforms to our trade negotiation and communication governance processes and a renewed emphasis on […]
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