Latest News & Commentary
Don’t blame foreign investment for rising house prices
Republished with thanks from The Conversation One question that arises on the topic of real estate is the scale of foreign investment and ownership in Australia. It is understandable that the public has concerns about such investment, especially as precious little...
Just say No!
Last week, RBA governor Glenn Stevens assured us the big Aussie banks are solvent, that he can and will print dollars if necessary and cannot see a housing bubble pop when he examines the entrails. The only thing in the Guv’s speech we may be certain of is the...
Funding Infrastructure
Letter to the Editor The Age 24/07/2012 Using the uplift in private land values to fund infrastructure projects (Doncaster railway line 'could be built for $840m) is one of the recommendations of the Ken Henry review of taxes that was immediately abandoned by the...
Patents: An Immoral and Inefficient Anachronism
by Terence Dwyer Submission to the Productivity Commission's Compulsory Licensing of Patents public inquiry. Patents are immoral, contrary to the principles of natural liberty, natural law, to the common law and detrimental to the progress, prosperity, safety and...
Beware the rent-seeking organisation: don’t be dudded by housing data
Reprinted from The Conversation One of the more interesting outcomes the 2011 Census produced was the figures concerning the housing market. The reason for this interest is how the results contrasted with the idea that Australia currently suffers from an acute housing...
The Weaponisation of Economic Theory
by Michael Hudson Europe’s three needs: a debt write-down, a real central bank, and a more efficient tax system Brussels Talk, Madariaga College, Governing Globalisation in a World Economy in Transition, June 27, 2012 Courtesy of michael-hudson.com What can Europe...
Five reasons First Home Buyers should stand aside
The Don’t Buy Now! campaign urges the landless not to buy real estate until prices reset, just as they have in the countries we compare ourselves to. Property is grossly over valued measured against earnings or the rental income it can generate. This means young...
Nobody wants a mortgage
11 July 2012 ABS Housing Finance data out today shows a 7.3 per cent fall in commitments to buy new-built houses in a singe month. This follows a 9.3 per cent fall the month before. "Established house price are now at such a discount to newly-built that buyers are...
Housing flips into oversupply: it’s official
3 July 2012 ABS Census data just released shows 1.1 million fewer households and 595,000 fewer houses in Australia than previous estimates; Morgan Stanley researchers calculate Australia now has a 341,000 OVERSUPPLY of houses. The Census revision obliged National...
Giant Savings in Don’t Buy Now!
26 June 2012 Homebuyers who took Prosper Australia’s advice – Don’t Buy Now! – exactly five quarters ago have typically saved themselves $64,000 from the fall in property prices compared to someone who bought. Major land price falls mean a smaller mortgage, saving a...
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