Bruce Chapman

Bruce Chapman is Professor of Economics, College of Business and Economics, Australian National University.

Bruce's recent articles

A smart productivity play: Stop subsidising loss-making native forest logging

A smart productivity play: Stop subsidising loss-making native forest logging

On 7 September 2025, NSW set the proposed 476,000-hectare boundary for the Great Koala National Park and halted native-forest logging within it (plantation harvesting continues), with formal gazettal slated for 2026.

The drought is back – we need a new way to help farmers survive tough times

The drought is back – we need a new way to help farmers survive tough times

Australia in 2025 is living up to Dorothy McKellar’s poetic vision of a country stricken by “drought and flooding rains”.

A pilot Revenue-Contingent Loan for the JobKeeper Transition

Several months ago we argued the case for the use of revenue-contingent loans (RCLs) as part of the transition from JobKeeper. An RCL is a debt for business, with the defining characteristic being that repayments occur when the firm is able to do so comfortably in the future. The concept is closely related to the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) pioneered in Australia in the 1980s.