Recent publications
Tax Cuts Instead of Stimulus Spending Gives Average Australian $8,200 Tax Cut
Over the course of the 2008-09 financial year the Australian Government took a series of significant fiscal policy decisions which were designed to act as an economic stimulus. This paper asks the following simple hypothetical question: if those...
Submission to Senate Inquiry into Trade Practices Amendment (Blacktown Amendment) Bill 2009
There are a number of problems associated with legislating against geographic price discrimination. In this paper Sinclair Davidson concentrates on two problems. The first is the practical problem of cost differentials across geographic space....
Does fiscal stimulus work? What Nobel Price winners say
We have been told that ‘you don't need a PhD in economics' to understand why fiscal stimulus packages increase economic activity. Senior government ministers, the Treasury, a host of business economists, and a legion of journalists - amongst...
Australia's lonely stimulus
Much has been made of the fact that the government has acted to shield the economy from the impact of the crisis. The Rudd government's response to the global financial crisis was to ‘Go early, go hard, go household.' Since September 2008,...
Reckless stimulus: lots of money, almost no accountability
If you wanted evidence of the recklessness of the Obama administration's approach to economic policy, you need look no further than its response to the global financial crisis. Obama's stimulus package, otherwise known as the American Recovery...
Wayne Swan vs. The Wall Street Journal
Wayne Swan's second budget speech was magnificent in its rhetoric. The budget had been ‘forged in the fire' of economic crisis and Australians were ‘too strong, too resilient, and too united to be overwhelmed'. He told of how Australia...
Sinking into debt
The past few months have shown just how fragile the perceived orthodoxy of government financial management has been. Seemingly gone are the days when Australians could rely on their governments to deliver budget surpluses without mortgaging the...
Five and a half big things Kevin Rudd doesn't understand about the Australian economy
Five and a half big things Kevin Rudd doesn't understand about the Australian economy
Are retail sales well above expectations?
State Finances at the Crossroads: The states' budget problem and what to do about it
The economic and fiscal performance of the states has a significant impact on Australia's economic fortunes now and in the future. With taxing, spending and financial management policies and strategies at its disposal, state activities have a...