Research reports

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.

A strong car industry would be an asset to the Australian economy only if it stood on its own two feet. Relying on government support is no substitute for building good quality and good value cars for which there is market demand.

Local governments could provide better services, like schools and fast development approvals if they received a higher proportion of tax revenue and a formal definition in the Constitution. There is a need for a strong and proactive local government that has more control over its purse strings and is more connected to the people it serves.

With the number of people out of work and living off benefits staying stubbornly above 4 million, policy makers are increasingly looking at new ideas to get people off welfare and into work. Especially because, since 1997, over £75 billion of Government funds has been ploughed into creating welfare to work programmes. When Hassle Means Help, with contributions from international welfare experts, examines why conditionality works well in other countries, such as the US, Sweden and Germany – why it isn’t working in the UK – and how governments can most effectively get people back into work.

This book was never published because of the Global Financial Crisis. This is a pity because it was an obituary for a great country: England.

A decade of regeneration policies has failed to stop the inequality of opportunity between towns and cities in the North and those in the South East increasing. In their third report in the series on regeneration in the UK, Cities Unlimited, Tim Leunig and James Swaffield recommend a series of radical proposals that would reverse the trend and inject a much needed momentum back into regeneration policy. The key recommendations from the report are to increase the size of London by allowing landowners the right to convert industrial land into residential land in areas of above average employment; expand Oxford and Cambridge dramatically, just as Liverpool and Manchester expanded in the 19th century and for the Government to roll up current regeneration funding streams and allocate the money direct to local authorities.