Recent publications in Occasional Paper
Australia as a destination for foreign capital
The current international economic uncertainty provides Australia with challenges and opportunities. Amidst this uncertainty, Australia's inherent advantages should allow it to market itself as a ‘safe haven' investment destination capable...
Japan and Global Warming Policies
In November 2008, Dr Alan Moran, Director of the IPA's Deregulation Unit travelled overseas to get on-the-spot looks at the international policy climate for global warming mitigation strategies. This first report looks at Japan. Japan has not...
Evidence-based policy and public sector innovation
A key driver of Victoria's ability to compete against other Australian states and international competitors will be the degree to which the Victorian government is itself innovative. The creation of the right environment for innovation by the...
2008 Harold Clough Lecture: 'The Politics and Science of Climate Change: The Wrong Stuff'
The 2008 IPA Lecture was organised in conjunction with the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation. I am pleased to present this lecture today in Perth. I am particularly pleased to find that Perth is still here. I last visited here in 2005 - the...
A critique of the ACCC analysis of the FuelWatch scheme
Much has been made of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission analysis of the Western Australian FuelWatch scheme. This paper investigates the ACCC analysis published last December and comments briefly on the additional analysis the...
Briefing Paper: The politics of wheat
The Politics and Economics of Climate Change
What Price Spending? The lost opportunity of the 2007 federal election
What if an election was held and all that was offered was tax cuts? During this election campaign both parties have promised to increase government spending. This paper evalutes how deep the tax cuts would have been had the parties chosen to cut...
Thumping the Table: Key Questions for the Labor Party's 'Industry Policy'
Is industry, in particular manufacturing, characterised by market failure that demands government intervention? The Labor Party has argued that Australia risks being relegated to the positions of "China's quarry" and "Japan's beach".
2007 SA State Budget Opportunity Squandered
Since 2000, GST revenue distributed to the States has increased at an average annual rate of more than 9 per cent-a huge and unexpected gain. As a result, South Australia is awash with money at levels unanticipated by the architects of the new tax...