We’ve been warned. And this excellent article in The Age is by no means the first time: “The government is only borrowing to consume,” she [TD Securities Asia-Pacific macro strategist Annette Beacher] said. Ms Beacher pointed to a recent warning by outgoing RBA chief Glenn Stevens who said: “The case for governments being prepared to borrow for the right investment assets […]
The Taxi industry is one of the clearest examples in Australia of how industry and regulators team up to rip off the public. Before Premier Jeff Kennett regulated the taxi industry in Victoria, it was a (comparatively) competitive industry, with operators able to use price, service, availability, and cleanliness as points of difference from each […]
Who can forget the political freakshow that was the last federal election? Who can forget the barrage of TV ads, the letterboxes full of leaflets, and of course the polling booths covered in posters and how-to-vote cards being thrown like confetti as you ran the gauntlet to get in. Whilst this theatre has become an […]
If the Census Bureau’s plan to keep your name attached to your census response doesn’t ring huge alarm bells in your head, then I’ve got a bridge to sell you, a Nigerian Prince who needs help reclaiming his millions, and a beautiful Russian billionairess bride desperate to meet you. Even if the Census Bureau doesn’t intend to […]
The Australian Libertarian Society just hosted the 4th annual Friedman Conference up in Sydney, and it was a simply incredible event, with over 300 people in attendance. My team video’d the whole thing, so if you couldn’t be there then be patient for another week or so and you’ll be able to start watching sessions […]
‘The Lucky Country’ is an apt nickname for Australia. It was used as an insult by Donald Horne in his book ‘The Lucky Country’ to criticise us for being too lazy and taking our luck for granted. Basically he said we didn’t deserve the prosperity and easy lives we enjoyed when he wrote his critique in […]
Government intervention in a short video. This is a shortened version of the Three Stooges ‘Plumbing’ film, and like everything from the Stooges, it’s both funny, and painfully on point, even all these years later. Sometimes comedians find ways to explain things that ‘serious’ people like me just can’t do. The video really does speak […]
No major political party in this country is serious about the budget deficit, and would like you to believe that it can’t be brought under control through spending cuts. Even as the treasurer makes occasional and meek protests that we ‘have a spending problem’, all you’ll hear about from the Libs, Labor, or the Greens, […]
Venezuela are the socialist object lesson of our generation. I have friends in Venezuela, my wife and I were there in April last year for a wedding of a dear friend, and it was already clear that things were going to get far worse before they were going to get better. The question is, how […]
This article from Business Insider is what passes for economic commentary on the budget and national debt today. Ugh. Yes the $19Trillion figure is US, but whilst our numbers in Australia are vastly different, the principles are identical. It’s astonishing to me how many people, including many who should know better, are firmly in the ‘head […]
