Year: 2012

Whatever possessed Forbes Magazine to put Merkel on the No.1 spot of the most powerful women in the world remains a mystery. A place somewhere between Shakira (#40) and Angelina Jolie (#66) would have been more appropriate. One has to fear that Forbes’ female ranking is really only determined by appearance.

Australia’s population is growing, whether you like it or not. But in dealing with it, nothing would be more irresponsible than pessimism. The challenge is not to stop population growth but to find practical solutions to accommodate it.

As the Productivity Commission points out: “Population ageing can only be conceived as a crisis if we let it become one”. Dramatically cutting population growth is a sure fire way to make that crisis a reality.

Building roads, rails, schools and houses may not be as intellectually stimulating as discussing population growth, but it is what Australians should really be doing instead of debating whether they want a bigger Australia.

As much as I understand the esteemed economists’ desire to end the euro crisis quickly, even with bizarre proposals such as euro devaluation, not every medicine is effective and not every cure is better than the disease.

A growing population can bring economic benefits. It goes hand-in-hand with increased prosperity and better standards of living. It delivers a larger, better-skilled labour force and more vibrant cities. The real challenge is not to stop population growth. It is making population growth work.

In WHY vs WHY™ Big Australia, we pit opposing writers against each other, Jessica Brown & Oliver Hartwich (YES) vs Mark O’Connor (NO). They go head-to-head, each side presenting 7 key reasons why you should say yes/no to Big Australia.

After each side presents their arguments, the opponent then tries to tear each of them apart, both in the book & on this website (with further rebuttals). For readers, we aim to leave nothing unanswered.

Having unsuccessfully followed textbook advice on dealing with the global financial crisis, it is high time to explore alternative ways of dealing with the root causes of the crisis. Whether politicians have the courage to touch Tanzi’s radical solutions is a different question.