Essays

A collection of long-form economic essays.

2025

Albanese's future, making housing less affordable, King Dollar, the demise of Britain, and there is no AI moat Jan 23

An Australia-wide long weekend kicks off tomorrow, and between the Perth Rugby Sevens tournament and Australia Day festivities I’m not going to have all that much time for the usual reading and writing. So the next time you’ll hear from me will probably be in the form of a Hot Take on the all-important December quarter inflation figures (Wednesday).

Trump's first day Jan 21

US President Donald Trump has already signed a hundred executive orders with wide-ranging implications, including for Australia.

Striking a balance on immigration Jan 19

Australia should prioritise skilled migrants by using prices and incentives instead of queues and quotas.

The labour market keeps on trucking Jan 16

Strong labour force data in December have all but ruled out a February rate cut.

Barriers to nuclear, the tradie shortage, trade-offs still matter, the deal of the century, and don't fire the bureaucrats Jan 14

For whatever reason I’ve read more than the usual amount of interesting content over the past week, so here’s another post replete with my thoughts on several topical issues.

Time for reform, censorship and good intentions, how California mismanaged its fires, and the housing target is a bust Jan 12

I trust everyone had a lovely weekend, or for those just getting back into the office, a wonderful summer break!

Why I'm sour on a sugar tax Jan 9

A sugary drink tax will do more harm than good.

November's inflation and the RBA's dilemma Jan 8

Inflation cooled in November, with implications for interest rates.

The end of Trudeau Jan 6

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has resigned. The Albanese government could learn a thing or two about how it all went so wrong.

Getting serious about housing, ending the Future Fund, the latest bird flu, just tell the truth, and lessons from the NBN Jan 5

I trust everyone’s nice and refreshed from the summer break! Lots of interesting things to discuss today, starting with some positive-sounding housing policy news from NSW.