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Why robots won’t end jobs and don’t justify universal basic income – Paul Kerin
In his article in yesterday’s Australian, “Busting the ‘End of Jobs’ Myth”, Paul Kerin explains why robots and other forms of automation won’t create mass involuntary unemployment and therefore why universal basic income would be an unnecessary and inefficient response. The full article is available here.
Why the Water Supply Needs a Splash of Competition – Peter Coombes
Why the Water Supply Needs a Splash of Competition
The article above was printed in the Australian Financial Review on Thursday 19 January under the same title “Why the Water Supply Needs a Splash of Competition” by Professor Peter Coombes, Urban Water Cycle Solutions, Independent Research and Consulting. See also the website urbanwatercyclesolutions.com
Billion-dollar concessional loan a waste of taxpayers’ money – Paul Kerin
In a recent article in The Australian, Paul Kerin presents evidence that the sharemarket expects Adani’s proposed Carmichael mine in Queensland to create substantial shareholder value. This demonstrates that the Federal government’s proposed $1 billion dollar loan to Adani would be a waste of taxpayers’ money. The full article is available here.
Put an end to location-based subsidies – Paul Kerin
In a recent article in The Australian, Paul Kerin argues that location-based subsidies are pervasive and substantial, but make us worse-off. Using examples from the health, insurance telecommunications and utilities sectors, he explains why. The full article is available here
Privatisation is beneficial, but deal design is important – Paul Kerin
In a recent article in The Australian, Paul Kerin assessed the proposed partial privatisation of electricity network business Western Power by the WA government. He argued that while the proposal is better than continued full government ownership, it won’t deliver the full potential benefits due to several key design choices. The full article is available […]
Chief executives and chairs never like short sellers – Paul Kerin
‘Chief executives and chairs never like short sellers’, points out Professor Paul Kerin in an article in The Australian this week. He argues however that short sellers provide very valuable public services. Read the full story here
Electricity and the perils of second-best thinking – Paul Kerin
In an article in Wednesday’s Australian, Paul Kerin argues that our governments should focus on “first-best” environmental and energy policies to best serve the overall public interest. He warns that the negative consequences of second-best policy choices (such as the large-scale renewable energy target (LRET) and the maximum price cap (MPC) on wholesale electricity) are […]
The WTO is important for the world, and good for Australia – Arne Klau
“Time to admit that the WTO’s day is done” was the headline on a piece by Zoe McKenzie in this newspaper last week. Certainly, nobody would deny that progress in the Doha Round has so far been unsatisfactory and that there is more scepticism about trade liberalisation in many parts of the world than 25 […]
Labor market reform – Bill Carmichael
The proposal to restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) is under attack from the Opposition, the ACTU and the CFMEU. Opposition Leader Shorten has confirmed he will respond “like a union organiser.”
Their reaction has been to shoot the messenger rather than engage with the message, as they have done with the moderate reformist […]
A CETA for Australia? – Hein Roelfsema
This week in Bratislava the EU Council will decide the on the the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada. In contrast to TTIP between the EU and US, CETA is a done deal pending approval of regional parliament in Wallonia. The negotiation process so far has been unusually swift for EU standards. Given […]