Ideas & Liberty
Ideas & Liberty
The Institute of Public Affairs examines the philosophical and moral case for liberty. By situating current political, economic and social debate in the history of Australian and international liberalism, it is possible to shed new light on the questions of today. The Institute of Public Affairs approaches political debate firmly grounded with an appreciation of entrepeneurship, civil liberties, individual responsiblity and free markets.
Sub-topics of Ideas & Liberty
News
Happy birthday to free market liberalism
This year what we think of as modern free market liberalism turns 50. We can thank the 1962 book by the American economists James Buchanan and...
Politics of contradiction mean democracy for me, but not for thee
The scepticism of voters is troubling but not surprising. Only 60 per cent of Australians think democracy is preferable to any other form of...
Should voting be compulsory?
The biggest myth in this debate is that Australia's system of compulsory voting is normal. Forcing our citizens to vote in every state and federal...
Democracy in doubt
If the young are our future, then we're in trouble. The results of two polls released this week give a glimpse of what young people in Australia...
Remittances dominate aid yet remain unspoken
The underappreciated thread that ties the global economy together is remittances - the money sent by migrants back to their home countries....
Gillard plays the unedifying 'small Australia' card
It's obvious what Julia Gillard was doing when she claimed Enterprise Migration Agreements for mining projects would not favour foreign workers....
Obama beats Bush in assault on civil rights
America's security powers continue to grow. It's been fun for the left in Australia to fixate on the Republican candidates for the American...
Locking people away forever because ASIO reckons
It's a scandal that administrative decisions which result in indefinite detention are made outside judicial scrutiny. In his 1885 book An...
The politics of projection: there's a reason we can't all just get along
Politics is almost entirely in the eye of the beholder. Obviously conservatives, libertarians, progressives and environmentalists have different...
The Rise of China is the Real End of History
War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor reading. - Thomas Hardy, The Dynasts Reprising Hegel's view that the Battle of Jena in 1806...
