by David Collyer | Dec 2, 2010 | Articles, Commentary
photo credit: djking To win the election, the new Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu pledged to phase in reductions in Stamp Duty by fifty per cent on real estate transactions under $600,000 for first home buyers. This is a very modest proposal. Mr Baillieu’s incoming...
by David Collyer | Nov 16, 2010 | Articles
photo credit: The Library of Congress Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked. Warren Buffett In the US housing bubble, banks and financiers gave a mortgage to anyone with a discernable pulse. NINJAs (No Income, No Job, no Assets)...
by David Collyer | Nov 9, 2010 | Commentary
The Senate Select Committee on New Taxes is pondering the implications of the Mineral Resource Rent Tax, holding a hearing yesterday in Perth. Here is a new tax measure that, even diluted for the election, will still raise over $10 billion a year. This is a beautiful...
by David Collyer | Oct 21, 2010 | Commentary
Melbourne City Council is selling lanes to developers, according to The Age today. It makes a pretty penny, too, having pocketed $1.2 million from the sale of part of three lanes in the last 12 months alone. The article sparked an intense debate on the newspaper’s...
by David Collyer | Oct 12, 2010 | Commentary
photo credit: Lucia. . . A secret map of Melbourne’s transport plans for the next 30 years was published in The Age yesterday. Doubts were raised about its authenticity (weakly, unconvincingly) by the Victorian government. Average householders may shrug, but this is a...