by Philip Soos cross-posted from Independent Australia Banks, abetted by government, want you to keep getting crippling mortages to pay for vastly overpriced land, but the party can't last forever. Over the last 20 years, housing has developed a reputation as a...
BLOG: Commentary
Homeless Protest Tax Incentives for Hoarding
Today we featured in the Guardian article by Van Badham: Meet the homeless protesters who are taking on tax breaks for the rich. It has people talking - 236 shares and 208 comments in just a few hours. Badham writes: Word of this betrayal travelled through Melbourne’s...
Odd Bedfellows
Something is up when the NSW Business Chamber allies with the NSW Council of Social Services and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union. Stern champions of enterprise have jumped into bed with hand-wringing defenders of the down-trodden and cloth-cap unionists–...
PM sets up the states for a 1% federal land tax
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has positioned the Commonwealth Government to introduce a 1% federal land tax and reform our bust political system that denies voters the right to hold government accountable. Overnight, the states rejected the Prime Minister's call to...
PM to lift the stone from your chest
Malcolm Turnbull today offered a gift of $1000 to every man, woman and child in Australia. The money will come every year forever – if the states and territories end Stamp Duty and fund this by removing the exemptions and wheezes from State Land Tax. No, we don't get...
Malervescence: a government determined on tax deform
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has produced so many thought bubbles on tax reform he makes fresh beer look flat. His latest effervescence is for the states to levy their own income tax on top of the Commonwealth take. He needs to be warned: Be careful what you wish...
The Modern Debt Jubilee, a taboo medicine we desperately need
by Jesse Hermans Economies all over the world, primarily the Western ones, are entering what appears to be an era of stagnation. Japan’s experience over the last 25 years offers us insights into what the future holds. Unsurprisingly, economists dispute the cause of...
Could a 137 year-old equation explain the financial collapse?
by Bryan Kavanagh republished from On-line Opinion The Australian Federal Treasury publication "Architecture of Australia’s tax and transfer system" (August 2008) made a valid observation: While there are at least a hundred taxes, they all ultimately fall on returns...
Peter Costello’s indefensible legacy
On Friday, Peter Costello used Fairfax to tell us how handsome he is and how splendidly the Future Fund he chairs is performing. He was responding to fellow establishment figure Howard Mitchell's comparing its returns against the Alaska Permanent Fund. The whole...
Geoists in History – Philip Snowden
1864 - 1937 Karl Williams continues the exploration of the great figures in history in his Geoists in History segment. “There never was a time when the need was greater than it is today for the application of the philosophy and principles of Henry George to the...