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Monthly Archives: May 2016

The coming utilities crisis: huge risks for consumers and taxpayers

At last week’s Energy Networks Conference (held in Adelaide), electricity industry leaders were adamant that the future for traditional utility business models was very dim (see, for example, Electricity market smashed by technology). AGL Managing Director Andy Vesey said that business models based on the traditional technology paradigm – large-scale generation, large-scale wires and electricity […]

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

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$1/litre milk doesn’t hurt farmers at all!

Dairy farmer associations are calling on the Federal government to ban sales of $1/litre milk and, in the meantime, urging consumers to boycott $1/litre milk (sold by Coles and Woolworths under their own brands) and instead buy branded milk (see, for example, “Ban cut-price milk”). However, as I showed in an article over 5 years […]

Posted in Business economics, Economic regulation, Paul Kerin, Public policy | Tagged |

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Boost infrastructure investment through key reforms – Darryl Gobbett

In a recent speech to the 2016 South Australian Infrastructure Conference in Adelaide, Darryl Gobbett made several recommendations to help improve South Australia’s economic performance, including: Boost infrastructure investment that focuses on cost-reduction, output, exports and regional SA; Establish a SA Productivity Commission to determine investment and other priorities; and Fund investment priorities though a broad-based […]

Posted in Business economics, Contributors, Darryl Gobbett, Economic growth, Economic reform, Infrastructure, Public policy, South Australian economy, Taxation | Tagged |

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Going for growth – Christopher Findlay

Australians are asking ‘where will economic growth come from?’  A common response is ‘structural reform’, about which we are likely to hear more and more in coming weeks as the election campaign proceeds. What is that and does it matter?  Structural reform has many dimensions but really it’s about making market works better as they […]

Posted in Christopher Findlay, Economic growth, Economic reform, Economic regulation, Economic research, Public policy | Tagged |

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission – Final Report

The Final Report of the South Australian Royal Commission into the Nuclear Fuel Cycle has just been released and is available here. The Final Report found that a waste disposal facility would have the potential to generate significant value for south Australia. It did not find that other nuclear activities (such as a nuclear electricity […]

Posted in Paul Kerin, Public policy | Tagged |

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How do elections affect business behaviour?

Now that a long Federal election has been called, what impact will this have on business behaviour? The answer from economic researchers around the world is: quite a lot – particularly in closely-fought contests like the one we are expecting in Australia. As I wrote in my column in Company Director last December (available here), […]

Posted in Economic research, Paul Kerin | Tagged |

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Australia’s beef with Chinese Investment – Christopher Findlay

The $371m bid for the Kidman cattle properties by Dakang Australia (80% Chinese owned) was knocked back in late April by the Federal Treasurer, according to the current policy to review foreign purchases of agricultural land. Australia is a host of foreign director investment (FDI) in many sectors of the economy.  Annual FDI (net) inflows […]

Posted in Business economics, Christopher Findlay, Economic reform, International trade, Public policy | Tagged |

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SA ranked equal last state economy: Commsec

Commsec’s latest State of the States report (released today and available here) ranks SA equal last (with Tasmania) on economic performance. SA’s best ranking across the 8 indicators was 4th on equipment investment, but it ranked 7th on unemployment and 8th on dwelling starts and retail spending. However, the report noted that SA’s job market […]

Posted in Economic research, Paul Kerin, South Australian economy | Tagged |

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