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.
BLOG: Articles
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.
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.
Queensland’s Retrospective Theft
Midnight Wednesday, the Queensland Parliament amended the Local Government Act and the City of Brisbane Act to legalise the theft of around $2.3 billion in differential rates charged by 20 councils on non-resident owners over the last twenty years. The...
The eternal sunshine of the empty mind
The Queensland Supreme Court has struck out the differential rate some Queensland councils charge investors over and above residents on similar properties. Councils may be forced to pay it all back. $300 million a year is in doubt. This landmark decision exposes the...
ACT landowners are revolting
The Property Council of Australia is ‘vehemently opposed’ to Canberra’s special land levy to part-fund the $600 million light rail project from Gungahlin to the city, calling it “just another property tax in disguise”.