Archived publication for April 2012 in IPA Review article
Recent publications
Enemies of free speech
Infringements on freedom of speech are hard to justify, and they should be. The public debate that grows out of freedom of speech is the fundamental social process we use in a democracy to get things right-to sort out the good arguments from the...
Top 20 pro-freedom films you must see
Australia's helmet law disaster
Australia is one of only two countries in the world with national all-age mandatory bicycle helmet laws (MHLs). Introduced by state and territory governments under threat of cuts to federal road funding in the early 1990s, the idea that it should...
We will not submit
The Finkelstein Report into Media and Media Regulation is not just a massive threat to freedom of the press. It's also a blatant attack on free speech. It's remarkable that in the twenty first century, in a liberal democracy like Australia, that a...
Howard's fault?
The Slap is full of swearing. As Danielle Williams, the Book Club Leader at the Sydney Writers' Centre, advised potential readers ‘if you're easily offended by swearing (and real swearing!) then this isn't for you'. She explained that most...
Demystifying China
The ‘fundamental shift in the structure of the international system' brought about by the resurgence of China is a familiar story. An occasionally neglected part of this story is that such a state of affairs was made possible when US...
Free market solutions to poverty
Over the past two decades, much has been made of so-called ‘market-based' solutions to extreme poverty. The prevailing view is that poverty alleviation schemes premised upon market forces, such as micro finance, offer additional benefits in...
An economists' guide to life
If Ian Harper had been American instead of an Australian, and if he been a professor at the University of Chicago instead of the Melbourne Business School, Economics for Life would have been a hit on The New York Times bestseller list. As it is,...