ALS: thoughts on freedom

I am just giving you a sneak preview of my piece in the Inquirer section of The Australian today.  You will all have to run up to the newsagency or go on-line to read it.  No doubt, it will make me popular with parts of the blogosphere!  Gosh, at least Alesina’s paper was published in [...]

I had this piece in The Australian during the week.  I became interested in the topic during my visit to Switzerland.  I conclude that the RBA will not, and probably should not, intervene but it is an interesting topic. The value of the Australian dollar is putting many of our trade-exposed industries under real pressure.  [...]

I’m ashamed to admit I was a member of Amnesty International in high school. Back then I proudly wore an Amnesty badge on a black beret. Now I cringe at the memory of my naive self lapping up their hyperbole. The Sydney Morning Herald recently reported that Amnesty International is urging a parliamentary human rights watchdog to investigate the federal gover […]

When I wrote in Incise yesterday, ‘Rebate should not be means tested,’ I did not expect events to move quite as quickly as they have. The government seems confident it has the numbers to get the means test through. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rob Oakshott and Andrew Wilkie have indeed swallowed the government’s nonsensical arguments, but it will be interestin […]

Australians will be surprised to learn that, apparently, the federal government now has responsibility to help the city of...

Ted Baillieu plans to shave 3600 jobs from Victoria's bloated public service. The state of Wisconsin in the US, with a...

Bill Clinton famously said, "It's the economy, stupid". So it is. Unsuccessful politicians might be inclined to argue,...