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Category: Economic reform
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 recently […]
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SA must take risks – Dick Blandy
In a recent article in InDaily (available here), Dick Blandy argues that South Australia needs to throw off its conservative, timid approach to create a multi-faceted new economy if it is to bounce back and prosper in the medium term future and beyond.
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Another leading economist called for regulated asset write-downs
Leading economist Professor Ross Garnaut has called for the write-downs in the values of regulated electricity networks’ assets. In a recent speech (available here), Garnaut said:
“The falling costs of decentralised power and storage open up the possibility of reducing costs of power supply to users of power throughout the State. But only if the pricing […]
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Chi-X demonstrates why governments should not protect monopolies
Yesterday, alternative share trading venue Chi-X announced the sale of its operations in Australia, Hong Kong and Japan, reportedly for about $570 million (for The Australian‘s coverage of the sale, see here). This serves as a reminded of the benefits of market reform and competition – and of the need to not let vested interests […]
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Taxi regulation in Adelaide – Darryl Gobbett
Regular contributor Darryl Gobbett on taxi regulation:
The attitude of the SA Government to the licensing of Uber in SA should get us all thinking about what is the purpose of the regulation of taxis in the SA metropolitan area. (As an aside readers should note Section 45 (2) of the Passenger Transport Act 1994 does […]
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Lessons for governments from taxis vs Uber
In an article in today’s Australian (available here,), I argue that governments can learn valuable lessons from the current battle between the taxi industry and Uber, as well as from past battles over government protection of market power (such as the tariff wall and AWB’s export wheat single desk). I draw 5 key lessons – […]
The future of state governments?
In a speech 3 days ago, former Prime Minister Bob Hawke recommended that Australia should abolish its state governments.The speech was widely reported – see, for example, The Australian’s coverage here.
Hawke argued that state borders were “bloody absurd” and that Australia would be governed more effectively with only two levels of government (federal and local).
The […]
Parkinson on tax reform
In a speech yesterday at the McKell Institute, Martin Parkinson – the incoming head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (and former head of Treasury, as well as a distinguished graduate of the University of Adelaide’s School of Economics) – noted the importance of tax reform and, in particular, the need for careful […]
Tax Reform Article in The Australian
Paul Kerin and Christopher Findlay published an article in The Australian yesterday which expands on Paul’s recent blog on tax reform.
Read the article here.
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Improving regulation of natural monopolies
In my recent article in the ACCC’s Network magazine (“What would an efficient regulatory contract look like?”, available here), I argue that Australia’s current regulatory system for natural monopolies (such as electricity, gas and water networks) is in need of fundamental reform, because it does not serve the long-term interests of consumers very well at […]