Sydney Morning Herald

A few home truths on people and houses

Stop population growth, and solve the housing crisis. That's the simple mantra of the ''small Australia'' brigade. But what at first sounds like a straightforward proposition turns out to be based on bogus logic. Population size certainly plays a role in determining our housing needs. But it is by no means the only factor - let alone the decisive one. [...]

Don’t get starry-eyed about housing

Unlike the market models they teach in undergraduate economics courses, the housing market is not a sanitised place behaving in an always rational, easily predictable fashion. [...]

Look to Britain and hold the champagne

The most frightening parallel between pre-crisis Britain and Australia today is more fundamental. In both cases, there was a dominant understanding that the countries had found their steady and stable growth model. In Britain it was based on financial services and house prices, in Australia on minerals and China. [...]

Should we have an absolute freedom of speech?

When everyone agrees with a proposition, you have to fear that it is meaningless. Freedom of speech is a case in point. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, signed by almost every country, guarantees freedom of expression. The problems are in the fine print because even the covenant limits the scope of this right. [...]

Why world must take interest in our boom

It is appropriate for the society's international members to visit Australia. Its position of economic strength owes a lot to Hayekian ideas of freedom, competition and discovery. Australia remains one of the best case studies on the power of market-based reforms. [...]

Ken Henry should get a new career – as a pollie

Ken Henry has shown that he is no longer willing to confine himself to the role of a senior public servant. For this reason, it would be better for him seek a new career and run for a political office instead. [...]

Political idol: why TV offers more creative answers than politicians

Australia needs more political creativity. We shouldn't have to wait for our politicians to retire until they present us with new and unusual ideas. The time to get creative is now. [...]

Every vice is really a blessing in disguise

Good intentions pave the way to hell, but that's only half the truth. Even more astonishing is that selfish, dubious and even plainly evil plans often pave the way to a better future. [...]

It’s time to bring back a bit of class to rail travel

It's a pity this year's Nobel Prize for physics has already been awarded to achievements in fibre optics. The managers of CityRail would have been almost as deserving for their ingenious invention of time-travelling. How else could you describe the experience when boarding a 1970s-style intercity train from Central? [...]

Say it like you mean it, we love a bold leader

The public is thirsting for political leaders who dare to speak their minds. If only Australian politics would produce someone like the young German economics minister, our political debates would become infinitely more interesting. And Kevin Rudd would finally have a real reason to be afraid of ideologues. [...]