Archived publication for 2008 in IPA Review article
Recent publications
Shooting down the enemies of progress
Tony Gilland reviews An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming by Nigel Lawson (Overlook, 2008, 144 pages) & The Enemies of Progress: The Dangers of Sustainabilityby Austin Williams (Imprint, 2008, 156 pages) An Appeal to Reason:...
Who should take the blame for the biofuels tragedy?
In Mexico early last year, 75,000 people took to the streets in protest of the increasing cost of basic grain, in what were branded the ‘tortilla riots.' In March 2008, there were food riots in Egypt. And in April, Haitians rioted over the...
Taking apart Australia’s last single desk
After more than two decades of economic reform there were few truly egregious examples of government sanctioned protection left to greet the incoming Rudd Government. Perhaps the most outstanding was the monopoly granted to a publicly listed...
Emissions Trading: Towards the biggest economic change in Australian history
‘Placing a limit and a price on emissions will change the things we produce, the way we produce them, and the things we buy', states the Federal Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper, which compares the economic impact...
So now you have bought an emissions trading scheme
What is it? The emissions trading scheme, or ‘Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme', is a ‘cap and trade' system. This requires firms to obtain a government ‘permit' if they emit greenhouse gases. The government caps the level of...
Would you swap climate change for acid rain?
‘Climate change is happening so quickly that mankind may need to pump sulfur into the atmosphere to survive', argued Tim Flannery, 2007 Australian of the Year, in May. Flannery has suggested the sulfur be dispersed by jet fuel as a last...
Gordon Ramsay's Worst Recipes
The problem with Gordon Ramsay isn't his swearing. It's his hypocrisy. Gordon Ramsay, Britain's most notorious celebrity chef has demanded ‘stringent laws-licensing laws-to make sure produce is only used in season.' In a BBC interview in...
Misbehaving models and missing mammals
Jennifer Marohasy reviews Science and Public Policy: The Virtuous Corruption of Virtual Environmental Science by Aynsley Kellow. In 2000 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) claimed a species of Cambodian mountain goat,...
New satellite data casts doubts on global warming models
New NASA data from their Aqua Satellite throws doubt on the validity of climate change models currently being used by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. For the first time scientists have found a strong negative cloud...
Labor’s Ag Minister picking up where the Coalition failed
Since becoming the surprise choice as Minister for Agriculture in the new Rudd government, Tony Burke has, by and large, said sensible things on all the big issues confronting agriculture. In so doing he has upset both the diminishing band of...