Latest News & Commentary
WA’s necessary three card trick
By our 15 year old W.A Georgist Frederick Subere-Albawy, chief blogger at The Natural Commonwealth. The Western Australian Government has announced that it intends to build an underground rail link to Perth Airport, as well as Forrestfield, a suburb to the east of the...
WA Treasurer plays the TINA card on Stamp Duty
West Australian Treasurer Mike Nahan has acknowledged Stamp Duty is "dumb" but has no interest in changing it, claiming There Is No Alternative. ABC WA reports: In a speech to an economics forum in Perth on Tuesday, Dr Nahan said the state had come to rely on...
Infrastructure Funding Diversity
Cross posted from The Conversation By Chris Hale Public transport has a problem with money. Campaigners often argue that mass transit is a public good in its own right, and hence should be very cheap or even free. Mainstream media and even many self-proclaimed...
Senator Day calls out land bankers
Finally a Senator has said it, on the front page of the Australian Financial Review: Senator Day described sections of the property industry as “carpet-bagging, rent-seeking bootleggers” who used political donations to wield influence to restrict land supply and...
123rd Annual Dinner With…..
Having trouble reading this newsletter? View it online. The enews of Prosper & Earthsharing Australia JULY 2014 Schalkenbach Foundation 123rd Annual Henry George Dinner, 3rd September Featuring Professor John Freebairn of Melbourne University Wednesday...
Dump Stamp Duties to help labour mobility
One of the biggest impediments to labour mobility are stamp duties levied on housing transactions. Stamp duties can add tens-of-thousands of dollars to the cost of changing home, leading to fewer transactions and discouraging labour mobility.
The Neoclassical Response to Inequality and Growth
Part II: The Neoclassical Response to the Classical Theories of Inequality and Growth by Polly Cleveland, cross-posted from Dollars & Sense Read Part 1 Mason Gaffney has shown how many individuals helped construct neoclassical economics, often with financial...
Negative Gearing is costing you a lot more than you think
In Sydney where the ABS says established houses are a median $670,000, at least $64,000 of that is due to ‘gearer competition displacing homebuyers via price. Given Sydney is ground zero of ‘gearer displacement, this is likely a gross underestimate of the price consequences.
Piketty’s forerunners
by Polly Cleveland, cross posted from Dollars & Sense. In Thomas Piketty’s doomsday model, slowing of growth in the twenty-first century will cause an inexorable increase in inequality. Piketty is not the first to propose a grand model of inequality and growth. To...
Don’t get fined $30,000 for moving house!
“A citizen can hardly distinguish between a tax and a fine,” wrote G.K. Chesterton, “except that the fine is generally much lighter.” In Victoria, for example, the stamp duty payable on the purchase of a $600,000 house-land package (below the median price for...
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