A ‘fine’ conflict of interest
Guest post by Gavin R. Putland
In Victoria, if you are pinged for exceeding the speed limit by less than 10kph, and if it is your first offence for at least two years, you can apply to have the fine withdrawn and replaced by a warning. Most police officers know about this loophole, whereas most other citizens don’t. And that, according to Police Commissioner Simon Overland and Deputy Commissioner Key Lay, is why police officers caught speeding are 25 times more likely to be let off than the public at large.
But if you are caught speeding, and if police records show that you are eligible for a warning instead of a fine, why don’t the police tell you about this opportunity or presume that you will apply? Answer: revenue. And why haven’t police and politicians pointed out this loophole on every previous occasion on which fining people for minor speed infringements has been alleged to be about revenue? Answer: because it really is about revenue.
More guns, less crime
The US Supreme Court’s 2008 decision to strike down Washington DC’s handgun ban and gunlock requirements should have led to a surge in murders, with Wild West shootouts. At least that’s what those who supported the maintenance of the ban predicted.
In fact, DC’s murder rate plummeted by an astounding 25 percent last year, much faster than for the US as a whole or for similarly sized cities.
John Lott, the author of More Guns, Less Crime, has an updated edition coming out in which he argues that every time gun bans have been tried, murder rates have risen.
That might be relevant when the Supreme Court considers whether its decision to strike down DC’s ban also applies to the States, and in particular to Chicago. Chicago’s murder rate fell relative to other large cities prior to its 1982 handgun ban, and rose relative to them afterwards.
They also rose in Jamaica, Ireland, the UK and (for a time) Australia when gun prohibition was introduced.
Personally, I think gun laws probably have no impact either way on crime rates in Australia, at least in trend terms. But Lott’s arguments for America are supported by substantial data and serious analysis. To argue he has it wrong, you need far more than anti-gun bigotry.
Iceland – A free expression led recovery?
Iceland is proposing to implement legislation to protect freedom of speech to an extent rarely seen in modern times. With its economy shattered by the global financial crisis, there are now suggestions it could become a beacon for free speech, attracting journalism in the same way the British Virgin Islands attracts banks. This is from NPR’s Planet Money: Read more »
Libertarians and foreign intervention
Among those who regard themselves as libertarian there is a divide over foreign policy issues. At its core is the question of how to apply libertarian principles to interactions between countries.
In some areas, such as free trade, there is complete agreement. Anyone who would interfere with another’s ability to sell goods or services to people in another country, or to buy goods or services from people in another country, is by definition not libertarian.
However, the debate can get heated when it comes to military conflict, national security and occasionally immigration.
Some libertarians use as their starting point Thomas Jefferson’s famous quote of 1801, “Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none” to argue for a non-interventionist, mind your own business foreign policy.
America’s status as the world’s largest economy and strongest military power adds a layer of complexity that is often unhelpful. For the purposes of this discussion I prefer to focus on underlying principles rather than consider the position of America (and invite the anti-American bias that often seems to accompany such discussion). Therefore I propose to look at it from the perspective of a middle-ranking country, Australia. Read more »
Competitive federalism in action
The suggestion that Australian states should compete for business and investment is sometimes viewed as fanciful. The states relinquished their income tax powers during the Second World War and are now heavily reliant on the federal government for revenue. Their residual taxation powers are pretty limited and many of their regulatory functions have been referred to the federal government.
Nonetheless, competitive federalism does exist in some parts of the world. In Switzerland, it is working exactly as it should. Swiss cantons, which have considerable independence from the federal government, are actively competing to attract business and investment.
An article in the Wall Street Journal describes what is happening: Read more »
No Second Class Citizens
At the Liberal Democratic Party’s National Conference on 24 January, Sir Roger Douglas gave a presentation that included a discussion of ACT NZ‘s approach to presenting its policies, most of which are fundamentally the same as those of the LDP.
An approach that I found intriguing argues that traditional welfare state approaches to poverty, health care, education and pensions have resulted in second class citizens. It can be found in a publication called No Second Class Citizens (summary available here.)
Sir Roger is a former Labour MP who, as Finance Minister, radically transformed the New Zealand economy, cutting tariffs and subsidies, reducing labour regulation and privatising or corporatising many activities. As he says, his goals have never changed.
The goals I have today are the same as those I had when I was in Labour. I am just as concerned today as I was then about poverty. I am just as concerned today as I was then about opportunity. I am just as concerned as I was then about second class citizens. But where I have changed is what I see as the cause of second class citizenship.
Second class citizenship, he says, is caused by the welfare state.
New Zealand has two classes of citizens. And we have two classes not because the Government isn’t doing enough for the poor, but because what the Government does for the poor denies them choices, destroys the incentives they have to get ahead, and subjects them to political abuse.
We have created a system that taxes and regulates opportunities for most out of existence, and destines many to poverty.
And yet, nearly everyone still believes the only solution is more of the same.
On the very goals that the welfare state has sought to achieve, no one could genuinely argue that it has succeeded. Even the modern day proponents of the welfare state, be they in National, the Greens, or Labour, all know it has failed.
But they think they have the solution. They think the solution is more money. I have never heard a politician from those parties come across a problem that they believe could not be solved with just more money. That is why, regardless of who has been in power, the budgets for welfare, education, and health have all shown an almost inexorable growth.
His solution, and where ACT and LDP policy differs from all the other parties, is to return control of money to individuals to enable them to run their own lives. That means less expenditure by governments on behalf of individuals, and more expenditure by individuals on behalf of themselves. Specifics include lower taxes, individual health insurance and education vouchers.
This solution, of course, is not novel to anyone on this site. The main difference with Sir Roger is that he expresses it in terms that reflect concern for those left behind.
An emphasis on fewer negatives rather than more positives, perhaps.
I’m wondering whether a similar approach would work in Australia, given our perceptions about egalitarianism. What do you think?
Catallaxy Files- Why did this native born Hawaiian once describe himself as a Kenyan? May 18, 2012As the accompanying article on Drudge says, Obama was indeed born in Hawaii but asks why there has been so little vetting of the president. As they write: It is evidence–not of the President’s foreign origin, but that Barack Obama’s public persona has perhaps been presented differently at different times. The US is not really [...]Steve Kates
- Not all criticism of government is rent-seeking May 17, 2012Jess Irvine has an op-ed in the SMH where she makes the argument Meanwhile, business is acting like an adolescent, too, chucking hissy fits about workplace laws and taxation because it has learnt that this is an extremely effective parental manipulation strategy. In the teenage economy, the returns from rentseeking – or seeking special treatment [...]Sinclair Davidson
- Words from the wise May 17, 2012Graham Richardson has a must-read op-ed in the Australian today. He reveals the depths of hatred towards the PM. While it is clear Julia Gillard just doesn’t understand how bad things really are, she is at the very core of the disenchantment. These two MPs, who both voted for her in Kevin Rudd’s February challenge, [...]Sinclair Davidson
- Why did this native born Hawaiian once describe himself as a Kenyan? May 18, 2012
- inCISe
- Govt furphy on Indigenous homeownership May 16, 2012In a media release on the Indigenous Affairs part of the 2012 Budget, the federal government insists it ‘will continue to prioritise access to the new program for people seeking to move into home ownership on Indigenous land’ – but this is a furphy. The government is well aware that people living on Indigenous land will not be able to access money from the n […]Sara Hudson
- A move long overdue May 15, 2012At long last, services on Sydney’s highly inefficient rail network are getting some attention. Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian has announced that 750 jobs will be cut in a restructuring effort intended to reduce bureaucratic waste. Even more heartening is that RailCorp’s projected job cuts are relatively mild, consisting of voluntary redundancies to m […]Alexander Philipatos
- Generalising about racism May 14, 2012The Sydney Morning Herald is running a poll asking if Australians are Racist. So far 74% of respondents say yes and 26% say no. Some of the commentators include Larissa Berendt who argues that Australia is a racist country because Aboriginal people have a shorter life expectancy. However, there are many reasons why their life expectancy is shorter than the a […]Sara Hudson
- Govt furphy on Indigenous homeownership May 16, 2012
- IPA news
- The unhappy compromise of European 'austerity' May 14, 2012Has austerity worked in Europe? Well, if "austerity" means savage cuts to government spending, then there has been no...
- The politics of projection: there's a reason we can't all just get along May 12, 2012Politics is almost entirely in the eye of the beholder. Obviously conservatives, libertarians, progressives and...
- Great expectations vanish May 10, 2012The federal budget was entirely predictable. The dodgy accounting. The flimsy "surplus". The higher taxes on the wealthy....
- The unhappy compromise of European 'austerity' May 14, 2012
Oz Political Quiz
