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Category: Paul Kerin
Federal election: should we vote again to save the economy? – Paul Kerin
In my January column in Company Director, titled “The election effect” (and available here), I pointed out that economic research shows that in the year leading up to an election, business investment is (on average) about 5% lower than it otherwise would be. As business investment accounts for about 15% of GDP, a typical election […]
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Economic briefing on SA, Australian & global economies – SACES
At the SA Centre for Economic Studies’ Economic Briefing Luncheon this week, the Centre’s Deputy Director Steve Whetton, gave an excellent overview of the SA, Australian and global economies. Steve’s slides are available here.
Beef with knock-back of Kidman sale: a lost foreign direct investment opportunity – Christopher Findlay & Paul Kerin
In their article in The Weekend Australian, Christopher Findlay and Paul Kerin argue that the Federal Treasurer’s rejection of the sale of the S. Kidman & Co. cattle stations to a consortium 80% backed by private Chinese businesses has not been in Australia’s public interest. As well as forgoing the usual benefits that foreign direct […]
Free trade gains even greater when allow for employment effects – Benedikt Heid
An article co-authored by the School of Economics’ latest recruit Benedikt Heid has just been published in the leading economics journal, the Journal of International Economics. The article estimates the gains to countries from trade liberalisation when employment effects are explicitly allowed for. For example, the article estimates that the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) […]
Beware of jumping the gun on Arrium in Whyalla – Paul Kerin
In his article in today’s Australian (available here), Paul Kerin argues that governments must be weigh decisions to assist private businesses very carefully. When businesses are about to be sold through a competitive tendering process, governments jumping the gun can simply waste taxpayer dollars for no benefit. Governments must also critically assess claims about the […]
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Government financing smoke and mirrors – Paul Kerin
In his article titled “Government resorts to smoke and mirrors” published in today’s Australian (available here), Paul Kerin explains the arcane world of government finances and shows that the Queensland government’s claims the it is reducing debt is really just smoke and mirrors.
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 […]
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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 […]
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 […]
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), […]
