15 November 2012 The mining investment boom that carried Australia though the Global Financial Crisis is declining rapidly and new engines of growth are urgently needed to steer around the ‘Controlled Depression’ that is driving the world into a spiral of misery -...
BLOG: Commentary
Total Resource Rents of Australia
Report Release Tuesday November 20th, 6:30pm Presenter: Karl Fitzgerald Venue: 1/27 Hardware Lane, Melbourne This report will demonstrate the economic power of monopoly is capable of financing all tiers of government. Economics once recognised that those who owned...
No, House Prices are not ‘Recovering’
A storm of triumphant prose rolled out to greet yesterday’s release of the authoritative ABS Eight Capital Cities House Price Indexes. Normally-sober Bloomberg told its global audience: “Prices climbed 0.3 per cent in the September quarter from a year ago.” They did -...
Using Georgist Insights to Make Sense of the World
During a recent e-news I pointed out how Georgist understandings help make sense of the world. I asked e-news readers (sign up in the right hand navigation bar, home page) to describe how they use knowledge of economic rents to decipher their world. The winner...
Victorian Local Government Candidate Survey 2012
Prosper Australia recently surveyed all Victorian local government candidates on rating issues. The survey has now closed and the results are in. Voters can examine candidate responses by LGA here. Please click on the candidate's name to see their comments. Our aim in...
Written Off: Negative Gearing Report
by Philip Soos Executive Summary Negative gearing is a popular investment strategy as it allows a net loss to be deducted against an investor’s personal tax liability at their marginal tax rate. While negative gearing has likely been in operation since the first...
Council Rating Subsidies
Council Rates: Who Pays More? The land speculator or family home? Under Capital Improved Valuation (CIV)/ Net Annual Value (NAV) the land speculator typically gets a 30% discount in rates over the family home. Capital Improved Valuation penalises homeowners for...
Housing Bubble – Don’t Buy Now!
David Collyer's edited presentation from our Northcote Town Hall event earlier this year. With a jump in job losses last quarter, stock levels at near record levels, land supply in abundance and over 90,000 vacant properties here in Melbourne, one wonders how long...
Written Off: Negative Gearing
Tuesday Oct 2nd, 6.30pm 1/27 Hardware La, Melbourne Presenter: Philip Soos RSVP $5 entry Does Negative Gearing increase rental supply? Is it a path to wealth or a black hole? Download the full report (PDF) Philip Soos has assembled an extensive array of data to...
Renovating for fun and profit
Toby Johnstone in the Sydney Morning Herald is at it again, suggesting renovating for profit in Sydney makes sense. On September 8 he profiled 50 Princes Street Bexley where a bright-eyed couple spent 5 years reclaiming a ‘swamp’. The property is now for sale at...