Writer
John Tan
John Tan was a deputy editor in the Straits Times newspaper in Singapore. He has been foreign editor and business editor.
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Do we need state-owned enterprises?
Per Capita’s recently released paper on Auspost becoming a bank begs the question of state-owned enterprises helping economic growth and create jobs? The Simandou mining project in West Africa may offer an answer. Continue reading »
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Will Biden be an uber-Keynesian president?
Likely next president Biden is instinctively a builder and collaborator who cares deeply about people. His plans are progressive but he faces major obstacles. Continue reading »
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The US and Australia: two elections and two fear narratives.
Three months to the US presidential election and Donald Trump is ramping up anti-China speeches. In Australia, the Eden-Monaro by-election has passed, and Scott Morrison hastened down his China-threat rhetoric. What could be behind his changed intensity? Continue reading »
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Neoliberalism: Attacks on the ABC and academia are entirely logical.
Funding attacks on the ABC and the social sciences in academia by Scotty from Marketing: they fit perfectly with Noam Chomsky’s propaganda model. Continue reading »
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Neoliberalism and the corporate plunder of India (Part 2/2)
The legacy of the East India Company lives on. There is much anger in India fuelling a rise in Hindu nationalism. Dalrymple is feeling this anger. Continue reading »
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Neoliberalism and corporate plunder of India (Part 1/2)
Dalrymple’s The Anarchy is about the East India Company, its strategies, artifice, grand corruption, and the consequences of unbridled corporate greed; an account acutely relevant today. Continue reading »
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Neoliberalism: Journalism in an age of fractures. (Part2/2)
There is another new player which could mean another cold war; andhuman rights going out the window, liberal democracy suspended. Journalists asking difficult questions face significant risks. Continue reading »
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Neoliberalism: Journalism in an age of fractures. (Part1/2)
Riots in America; ever-intensifying geostrategic competition; inequality and poverty growing continually. Are the divisions taking on an existential quality? Continue reading »
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John Tan. Neoliberalism: IT’S TIME for progressive fiscal policies (Part 2/2).
The RBA is bound by its mandate from government. This mandate needs to be re-worked by a progressive government. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Neoliberalism: IT’S TIME for progressive fiscal policies (Part1/2).
Central banks worldwide facegrowing criticism for putting money before people, for contributing to growing inequality and social disadvantage. But change is coming. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Covid-19, news media: Not enough questions.
Crisis; a virus-threat. These are causes of great concern, but not an excuse for lack of curiosity in the news media. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Covid, Bonds and Quantitative Easing.
The Covid crisis is also producing winners and institutional bond investors are winning big. Quantitative easing added to conventional monetary policy is just what they want. And so is forward guidance. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Covid-19: Which news sources should you trust?
Crises bring out a natural hunger for good information. How does one choose news sources? Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. John Mearsheimer: Foreign policy hawk? Controversial as ever. Part 2 (of 2):
He has enraged the Israel lobby in Washington with his book about the lobby and US foreign policy. He is persona non grata in many circles, but he’s not taking a step back. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. John Mearsheimer: Foreign policy hawk? Controversial as ever. Part 1 (of 2):
His theory of offensive realism is the most aggressive of all foreign policy theories. He believes China’s continued rise will likelylead to a muscular contest; and he has enraged the Israel Lobby in Washington. But his story is much more nuanced… Continue reading »
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JOHN TONS. Nature Bats Last
Australia’s summer of discontent has morphed into an autumn of fear as we bunker down to protect ourselves from coronavirus. Nature is reminding us that she is not to be trifled with, that she cannot be ignored. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. How the corporate media is helping Biden and normalising neoliberalism.
The corporate media is sneaking opinion into news reports, masquerading as fact. Not too subtle but a very effective form of propaganda now saturating our lives; changing what we believe to be normal; and playing on our insecurity and fears. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. More securitisation of policing functions? More democracy decay?
There is a concerted push to have ASD (Australian Signals Directorate) help in tracking paedophile suspects. Are there implications for law enforcement accountability, FOI, journalism, human rights and democracy? Take a look at some issues that have arisen in other countries. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Jokowi, identity politics … and neoliberalism.
President Joko Widodo is concerned by identity politics, which has been standard fare for neoliberal US and Australian election strategists for many years. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Australia joins the RCEP: Challenges and opportunities ahead.
Australia has joined the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which will come into being in 2020; 15 countries just to the north; a huge potential market of nearly half the world’s population and over a quarter of the world’s GDP. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Is Australia prepared? The next virus outbreak could be bioterrorism.
Technology to create a synthetic virus like the China new coronavirus is well established. It is widely available to some governments, private firms, and individuals. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Zuckerberg is right, isn’t he?
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly under intense pressure in the US to curb political advertisements on its pages. Who might be running such a campaign and for what reasons? Perhaps the answer lies in the gap between rhetoric and reality. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. About Hegemony, Leadership ….. and Assange?
There has been one global hegemon since WWII, a commander with enough soft and hard power to make all the rules that matter, and to enforce them. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Can we trust politicians? And newspapers?
A few days ago, the ANU released a revealing study showing that trust in government is at its lowest level on record. Only one-in-four Australians said they had confidence in their political leaders and institutions. And 56 per cent said government is run for a “few big interests”. Just as interesting is the way that Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Rights v. Rights: Whose rights shall prevail?
Human rights are usually associated with those in the Universal Declaration, like free speech and freedom of assembly, but there are actually two opposing narratives of human rights, both having their origins at about the same time just after WWII. The second narrative, seemingly very powerful, is a right to be as wealthy as possible Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Is this what a corporate state feels like?
Variously called classical economics, neoclassical economics, trickle-down economics, neoliberalism, a new wave of economic thinking swept Australia. Keynes was gone, Hayek and Friedman were the rage. We were told that free markets were the only way. Governments were a hindrance. Everyone should learn from the efficiency of corporations and markets. Planning was unnecessary because free Continue reading »
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JOHN TÖNS JP. Is the trend towards Artificial Intelligence a threat to Employment?
If today’s (12/06/19) National Press Club address by Chris Richardson is to be believed then the trend towards artificial intelligence presents no threat to employment. The analysis presented, however, reminded this listener to Mark Twain’s comment ‘that there are lies damned lies and statistics.’ Continue reading »
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JOHN TONS. Testing times for South Australian schools.
Coming soon to your local school is news about South Australia’s ranking on the McKinsey Universal Scale. Most likely you will have never heard about the McKinsey Universal Scale, or McKinsey for that matter. McKinsey is yet another international company that is seeking to cash in on the international preoccupation with constructing league tables about Continue reading »
