The Australian

The Australian

Learning about Hayek the hard way

09/03/2010
IN his masterpiece, The Road to Serfdom, Friedrich Hayek considered the follies of mistaken policies to conclude: “We shall not grow wiser before we learn that much that we have done was very foolish.” If only Kevin Rudd heeded this advice, his much-televised apologies for the government’s insulation fiasco and other policy blunders would be more credible.

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The Australian

The euro is a failed experiment that should be cashed in

10/02/2010
Greece’s budget problems are not just a worry for this small economy at the periphery of the European Union. It is an acute embarrassment to European elites that pushed through monetary union for political reasons. If they had only listened to economic advice they would have spared their countries a costly economic adventure.

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The Australian

We aren’t just larrikins

24/12/2009
The larrikin image certainly has a place in Australian popular culture, but it should not be allowed to damage our business relations or prospects. Do international managers think of Australia when deciding about business relocations or investment decisions? Or are we just an exotic holiday destination?

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The Australian

Property bias

04/12/2009
Price increases in any other market are called inflation, but when house prices go up the market is said to be healthy. But house price increases are only shifting wealth from non-owners to owners. Rising houses prices never create wealth. In fact, they make tenants wishing to buy property worse off.

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The Australian

Let internet replace journals

25/11/2009
The Australian government should be at the forefront of switching to publishing its research outcomes online. Our academics have nothing to lose and our universities would surely find better use for the money saved on costly journal subscriptions.

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The Australian

Time for Merkel to get serious

29/09/2009
Angela Merkel’s confirmation as Chancellor could at first look like a sign of political continuity. But the Christian Democrats’ switch of coalition partner from the Social to the Free Democrats is more than an exchange of adjectives. For Merkel and her party, this is the now-or-never chance to get serious with economic modernisation.

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The Australian

PM’s hero a neo-lib

21/05/2009
Neo-liberalism is a far richer, more thoughtful concept than it is mostly perceived today. To those criticising neo-liberalism today, the answer may well be just that: we need more of this kind of neo-liberalism that sets a good framework for a free economy. What we would need less of is only the rhetorical abuse of neo-liberalism for political purposes.

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The Australian

It’s all down to the market

02/05/2009
In an email debate, David Hetherington and Oliver Hartwich discuss the coming budget, whether the Government’s stimulus package is wise and sustainable, and what Treasurer Wayne Swan should drink on budget night.

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The Australian

Goodbye GM, hello Rudd Car

17/03/2009
Committing $100,000 of taxpayer money to saving each job in the car industry was already a prodigious waste of money but this will look cheap compared with the cost of nationalising Holden. In time, Australians will come to rue the day Rudd decided to treat the car industry as an issue of systemic significance.

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The Australian

More power to the people

22/01/2009
A country the size of Australia could be better served if it tried to delegate more tasks to lower tiers of government. Federalism is one way of achieving this, and many have cogently argued that it should be strengthened. Yet the very same arguments in favour of federalism also apply to local government.

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