Discounting the Intergenerational Report

Why do we need an IGR that merely regurgitates what the Government has already claimed about its own policies? An inter-generational report must be an independent and rigorous review of the evidence about policy outcomes to be of any use in the necessary debates about growing our wealth or maximising our opportunities. The current edition is…

Twitter test of defense policy

Twitter's one-forty byte limit is a tough test: a rhetorical sieve. Like a map or a model, a tweet holds only what you can see at a glance.

Agriculture in the AUSFTA

Good idea or insidious threat?

But who, other than China, would loose if this idea worked and the Renminbi was revalued? Most of the rest of the world. Especially economies with a comparative advantage in agricultural production (Australia, New Zealand, Latin America) for whom imported Chinese deflation of manufactures prices offsets the EU's depression of agricultural prices (and inflation of manufactures…

Bad plus bad equals worse

Recessions that are associated with both financial crises and global downturns have been unusually severe and long-lasting. Since 1960, there have been only 6 recessions out of the 122 in the sample that fit this description… On average, these recessions lasted almost two years. Moreover, during these recessions GDP fell by more than 4½ percent. Reflecting…