The good data provided by the ABS boosts buyer confidence and actually lifts land prices. Their absence after the Abbott Government’s cost-cutting can only reduce them. This may even be the pin that pops the land bubble.
BLOG: Commentary
Progress in 1111 small steps
The latest edition of Progress - our 1111th - is now available on-line (PDF) * Prosper's submission to the Senate inquiry into Affordable Housing * Financial Rules for Constructing a Strong State by Fred Harrison * It's Time to Shift States to Land Tax by Leith van...
Monbiot: rent seekers shriek reform away
Monbiot chronicles the shrieking retorts to reforms challenging their unearned incomes. Tax reform can no longer be dismissed as a dirty word left to the well connected. Here in Australia such shrieking to the mining tax, pokie or taxi license reforms was closely...
The Greens talk real tax reform
The Victorian State Council of The Greens updated their Finance and Taxation policies last weekend. Normally, I find their soft-left-populist stances mind boggling. Their tax polices, however, deserve attention – and applause. On gambling, The Greens...
Cuba for Sale?
The second in our new Evolving economics enews - sent bi-weekly. Sign up here. Read below for the surprising rationale justifying foreign investment in Cuba's newly privatised property free-for-all. Having trouble reading this newsletter? View it online. The enews of...
Federal Budget: Tax Shift to avoid Blame Shift
With the Federal Budget to be handed down in a matter of hours, and with today's housing finance figures revealing more of the same: investors at 39.1% of all loans FHO's nationally plateauing at 12.6%, up 0.1% NSW FHO's at just 8.5% and borrowing on average $320,800,...
Victoria spends on Road, Rail. Pity about the Stamps.
There is a better revenue base available to Victoria today: State Land Tax. Just remove its exemptions, thresholds and wheezes and consign Stamp Duty to the scrapheap. That SLT has deadweight losses of nil, so no wasted lives or people trapped in and out of housing.
Commission of Auditing Rent Seekers
We were warned of the dangers of the wealthy advising on future budgetary levers. But we thought more of the BCA's Tony Shepherd than this shallow display for vested interests. With great fanfare we are to maintain the Australian way of life with the burden placed...
Lobbyocracy revealed in pursuit of NSW’s windfall gains
The unfolding ICAC investigation in NSW is set to reveal the tight network between property developers and the political process. Neil Chenoweth, lead investigative journalist at the Fin Review has written this extraordinary piece, outlining just how effective counsel...
Housing: Investor support continues with Significant Investment Visas
Each day passes with policy enhancing the never ending Great Australian land bubble. Three of note include: the recent sale of $500m in Australian sub-prime loans by non-bank lender Pepper (AFR, paywalled), bundled together as Residential Mortgage Backed Securities....