Under Kevin Rudd, there's a quick fix to every problem, argues Henry Ergas.
THE Prime Minister stands at the mouth of the Murray and proclaims Australia must act now if we are to save our environmental heritage.
At the 2020 Summit, the best and brightest in the land demand bosses allow employees 30 minutes a day for exercise. Climate Change Minister Penny Wong and economist Ross Garnaut equate an emissions trading scheme with financial deregulation and tariff reform. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel tells us a scheme based on far-reaching price regulation FuelWatch) is a good idea because the ACCC's 'rigorous assessment' of its effects found weekly average petrol prices in Perth fell by 1.9c a litre after itsimplementation.
03 Jun2008
Kevin 24-7 or 7-11
The PM must stop confusing activity with progress and focus on real reform, advises Henry Ergas.
IF Australian public policy formulation is rarely a dignified process, the FuelWatch debate has plumbed new depths. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel emerged as the white knight for the 264 from which he is seeking reappointment, brandishing an econometric study that claimed to find support for the scheme.
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Kevin_24-7_or_7-11.pdf
IF Australian public policy formulation is rarely a dignified process, the FuelWatch debate has plumbed new depths. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel emerged as the white knight for the 264 from which he is seeking reappointment, brandishing an econometric study that claimed to find support for the scheme.
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Kevin_24-7_or_7-11.pdf
16 May2008
Swan budget signals choice under threat
Variety in a free market is the key to efficiency, so why is Labor eroding it, asks Henry Ergas.
IF there is one lesson that emerges from experience with economic reform in Australia and internationally, it is that choice is the key to efficiency. At the end of the day, it is consumers who are best placed to evaluate the services offered to them by suppliers. And it is the threat of that choice being exercised that disciplines suppliers and ensures that they innovate, invest and provide consumers with enduring value.
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Swan_budget_signals_choice_under_threat.pdf
IF there is one lesson that emerges from experience with economic reform in Australia and internationally, it is that choice is the key to efficiency. At the end of the day, it is consumers who are best placed to evaluate the services offered to them by suppliers. And it is the threat of that choice being exercised that disciplines suppliers and ensures that they innovate, invest and provide consumers with enduring value.
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Swan_budget_signals_choice_under_threat.pdf
13 May2008
Root, branch or tree
The tax system needs an overhaul, not more ad hoc tinkering, insists Henry Ergas.
ALL tax systems are imperfect, but some are more imperfect than others. And the more revenue a tax system has to raise, the worse its inherent imperfections become. Nowhere is this clearer than in Europe, where tax systems have been strained to breaking point by attempts to finance large-scale income redistribution through complex systems of progressive taxation. In Australia, the problems may seem less acute, but the underlying disease is no less chronic and no less in need of attention.
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Root__branch_or_tree.pdf
ALL tax systems are imperfect, but some are more imperfect than others. And the more revenue a tax system has to raise, the worse its inherent imperfections become. Nowhere is this clearer than in Europe, where tax systems have been strained to breaking point by attempts to finance large-scale income redistribution through complex systems of progressive taxation. In Australia, the problems may seem less acute, but the underlying disease is no less chronic and no less in need of attention.
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Root__branch_or_tree.pdf
08 Apr2008
A slanted snapshot to take to the future
IS it possible to examine Future Directions for the Australian Economy without noting that we have just had 10 years of strong economic growth, low to moderate inflation and steeply declining unemployment? Is it possible to do so without mentioning the words industrial relations and the possible effects of abolishing Australian Workplace Agreements on wage determination? Yes, if you are the (unidentified) authors of the background papers for the Prime Minister's 2020 Summit.
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A_slanted_snapshot_to_take_to_the_future.pdf
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A_slanted_snapshot_to_take_to_the_future.pdf