Tax
The need for tax reform
We desperately need tax reform in this country and fixing bracket creep for good would be an excellent feather for Chalmers to put in his rather empty reformist cap.
Justin Pyvis
Justin has a PhD in Economics and over 20 years of experience in applied economic, policy and investment analysis with the WA Treasury and AECOM in Perth, and Aletheia Capital in Hong Kong.
Monetary policy
Miles off the mark
Queensland's Premier Steven Miles appears to be out of his depth. Last week he called for RBA rate cuts, and announced reviews into supermarket pricing and homelessness. On Sunday he released a rental package that risks making the situation worse.
News
Friday Fodder (3/24)
Here are a few short takes for you to chew over on the weekend, from the week's happenings that probably didn't need a full post. 1. Boeing's cycle of misery You may have seen or read about the issues Boeing's commercial aircraft
Housing
Inching towards affordable housing
NSW, WA and SA have all announced steps that will increase housing supply. But to improve housing affordability for good, we need to ensure it's politically sustainable. That means communicating with locals and lifting density across entire cities, not just in 'well-located' areas.
Health
The unintended consequences of the vaping crackdown
The vaping crackdown will impose huge costs on users, drive some to the black market and force others to smoke more cigarettes, despite vapes being far less harmful than smoking. Instead of prohibition, regulate vapes like alcohol.
News
Monday Musings (1/24)
As a replacement for last Friday's missing Fodder courtesy of the long weekend, here are a few short takes for you to muse over to start your week, from last week's happenings that probably didn't need a full post. 1. An easy-sounding fix for
Tax
Albo's stage 3 backflip
I'm honestly not sure why Albo was willing to risk so much political capital on a relatively small distributional change just to get his very own Oprah moment. But the whole stage 3 tax cut song and dance is a recurring sideshow to a much, much deeper issue: bracket creep.
Inflation
When will interest rates start coming down?
I fired up my crystal ball and took a bit of a punt on this one. Well, not really, but if you're interested in my thinking on when the RBA might start cutting rates (hint: not anytime soon) then you should check it out.
News
Friday Fodder (2/24)
Here are a few short takes for you to chew over on the weekend, from the week's happenings that probably didn't need a full post. 1. Protecting us from ourselves I was scrolling through the AFR last Sunday, as one does, and noticed the following headline:
Reform
Javier Milei's shock therapy
I'm going to venture out beyond our borders today because what's happening in Argentina is quite possibly the wildest reform experiment the world has seen... ever. And believe it or not, the results could offer some important lessons for Australia. A bit of background For those
Environment
It's time to break a few eggs
This is why we can't have nice things. Last week, federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek decided to block Victoria's Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal, a port that would have been used for the state's planned offshore wind industry, citing the damage it would cause to
News
Friday Fodder (1/24)
Here are a few short takes for you to chew over on the weekend, from the week's happenings that probably didn't need a full post. 1. A lot happens at sea that we don't know about A new study in Nature used satellite mapping