BLOGS WEBSITE
Category: Economic reform
Council rates capping, inflation and state government’s role
The state government is currently legislating to cap council rate increases. The initiative arises from concerns regarding general rates rises and cost of living issues. In this post we examine how council rates have changed over time, take a closer look at the proposed legislative changes, and consider how reasonable they are.
How have council rates […]
Where to for public sector reform?
As top departmental heads rolled in the wake of the election of the Marshall Liberal Government, the question was asked: ‘What next for the public service?’
Debate over the size and shape of South Australia’s public sector is a perennial issue in political and business circles and the SA Centre for Economic Studies added its perspective […]
Migration important to SA regions
A major report on Australia’s population and the impact of immigration policy published by the Federal departments of Treasury and Home Affairs in April posed some pertinent questions for future research.
The report – Shaping a Nation, Population growth and immigration over time – asks, in part, whether the “current patterns of spatial distribution of population […]
Leave a comment
How can we revitalise the State’s economy?
A new report has proposed a range of policy initiatives aimed at “reinventing the State economy” and boosting economic competitiveness in South Australia.
The recommendations have been made in the latest Economic Issues report by the independent South Australian Centre for Economic Studies (SACES) at the University of Adelaide. The Centre has a 36-year track record […]
Leave a comment
Federal Relations Tax Reform Workshop
On August 28-29 the School of Economics at the University of Adelaide is hosting a workshop on “Federal Relations and Tax Reform” at the National Wine Centre. The workshop will focus on the operation of fiscal equalization systems and broader questions of taxation within federal systems, and taxation reform of especially interest to States and […]
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 […]
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 […]
Leave a comment
Showing the benefits of Europe – Hein Roelfsema
There is an atmosphere of cautious waiting in the Brussels air. Major elections to come in France, Germany, as well as here in the Netherlands. But already some very worrying first drops start to come down. A very undecided ‘State of the Union’ speech by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker succeeded in the goal of […]
Leave a comment
Apple tax decision European Commission implied powers – Hein Roelfsema
Although last week’s taxation decision by the European Commission (EC) was widely anticipated, the €13bn size of the Apple ruling last week caused a shockwave within the European Union (EU) as well as between the EU and the US. As a university professor at the start of the academic year, the Apple case provides for […]
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 […]
Leave a comment