Research reports

Friedrich August von Hayek was one of the intellectual giants of the 20th century. His contributions ranged from economics to philosophy, from law to psychology. In 1972, he won the Nobel Prize in Economics, and his ideas had great influence on politicians like Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.

At an event hosted by The Centre for Independent Studies in 2008, four academics delivered an assessment of Hayek’s contributions to different fields of research and analysed their relevance to contemporary debates. This collection of essays demonstrates how much a source of inspiration Hayek’s works still are.

should stop pretending that they can control what Australia’s future population will look like. Instead, they should turn their attention to the real policy issues that will be affected by population growth and ageing: housing, roads, pensions and our natural environment.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 brought the Cold War to an end. It also ended a decades-long division of Europe. At an event hosted by The Centre for Independent Studies, four academics shared their recollections of the historic events and analysed their long term impacts. They show how the change originated in Poland; how fast the revolution spread to East Germany; how Germany mishandled the process of national reunification; and the lessons for the Chinese leadership from the collapse of the communist East German government.

For many years now, trading schemes have been used as mechanisms to reduce environmental pollution. The principal idea behind such schemes is that they allow emissions to be cut where it is least costly. A similar idea could be applied in the area of better regulation.

After 13 years of Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) representation, Prime Minister John Key has said it is time to ‘kick the tyres’ and see how much support the system enjoys. New Zealand will hold a referendum on the electoral system coinciding with the next election, which may well be a close contest. With this referendum looming, it is both desirable and necessary to revisit New Zealand’s electoral system, its peculiarities, and its history. Beyond that, this is also the time to consider alternatives to MMP.

Just as judges are not philosopher-kings, nor are legislative drafters. The terms of a charter are subject to the influence of lobbyists; the judicial interpretation of charters is subject to manipulation by legal experts; and the pervasiveness of a charter is impossible to avoid.

Apart from big, capital intensive infrastructure projects that NSW needs to accommodate its growing population, it also needs a fresh start when it comes to the quality of transport solutions, particularly for rail services.

Neoliberalism is one of the most commonly used words in political debates. Despite this, the origins of neoliberalism are hardly known. Nor does there appear to be a generally accepted definition of the term. The original inventors of the word ‘neoliberalism’ had something completely different in mind. Their philosophy was a reasiong to the Great Depression of the 1930s. As such it was meant to show a ‘Third way’ between capitalism and socialism. Today’s critics of neoliberalism have more in common with neoliberalism than they may think.