Latest News & Commentary
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...
GFC – nothing learnt
By Catherine Cashmore Cross posted from all over the web, including Naked Capitalism. Yves here. This post looks at how little has been done in the wake of the global financial crisis is instructive because it takes an international view. The Australian writer,...
The Sovereign State of Pigovia
Libertarians and conservatives denounce Pigovian taxation because it would serious decrease profits for those doing the cost externalisation e.g. the wealthy and big business. Because uncorrected external effects are so rampant and thus a sign of the grave inefficiencies of capitalism, they have to be denied to even exist.
Clyde Cameron advocates for Land Tax in Federal Parliament: 1968
Mr. Clyde Cameron AO was the member for Hindmarsh in South Australia. These speech extracts were published in Progress Magazine, December 1968. One of the biggest difficulties for people wanting to build a house today is to find a suitable block of land at a decent...
Anthony’s Story
Sorry Australia. We won’t be turned into slaves to keep your worthless property bubble afloat.
Land: A Key Natural Advantage
If the RBA and our economic mandarins observe a national strategic advantage they have an obligation to foster it and deploy it to the advantage of all. One of ours is space. We have chosen to welcome migration, dig up minerals, grow crops and animals – but also to strictly ration by price the access to land for young adults.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Be the first to hear about our latest research, campaigns and upcoming events.
Support our work to shift tax away from the productive parts of our economy and towards unearned streams of income.
The power of revenue policy to create a fairer and more sustainable economy is significantly underestimated, and this is what we seek to change.