Ian McAuley

Ian McAuley is a retired lecturer in public finance at the University of Canberra. He can be contacted at “ian" at the domain “ianmcauley.com” .

Ian's recent articles

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts in other media

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts in other media

IAN McAULEY. Reminder to Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison: Australia is a parliamentary democracy

On the last sitting day of Parliament, the Government took extraordinary measures to block a vote on a bill to ease the medical evacuation of asylum-seekers on Manus Island and Nauru. The Governments terror of losing a vote on the floor of the House reveals a dangerous misunderstanding of the workings of our parliamentary democracy.

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts in other media

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.

IAN McAULEY. The National Electricity Market is a mess. Morrison wants to make it messier.

The National Electricity Market needs re-design involving re-nationalisation of networks and retailers because privatisation and structural separation have failed.

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.

IAN McAULEY. Victorias election: the trend behind the noise

The Victorian election is the latest instalment of a five-year trend that has seen the Liberal Party lose ground in every state and federal election. Whats going on?

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.

IAN McAULEY. How Peter Dutton and Kelly ODwyer set themselves up to look ridiculous.

A year ago, when the Turnbull Government had been dragged into setting up a commission on the finance sector, Peter Dutton and Kelly ODwyer relished the thought of exposing bad behaviour in the union-dominated industry superannuation funds, even though it had been clear for many years that the industry funds were serving their investors far better than the retail funds operated by the banks, as confirmed by the Commissions work. How did they get it so wrong?

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.

IAN McAULEY. Watch for Morrisons next round of economic impression management.

Before Christmas the Government will produce the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook. Its a fair bet that it will reveal a small cash surplus for this year, giving Morrison an opportunity to brag about the Coalitions economic expertise. But this will be a distraction from serious deficiencies in Australias economic structure.

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.

IAN McAULEY. The finance sector value creation or value extraction?

The Government and the finance sector would have us believe that the finance sector makes a valuable contribution to our economy. But is it simply a bloated overhead? Economist Mariana Mazzucato, who will deliver the second John Menadue Oration in December, reminds us that its claimed role in value creation could be eclipsed by its actual role in value extraction.

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.

IAN McAULEY. Outdoor advertising enclosing the commons

The furore over the projection of horse racing on the Sydney Opera House raises not only the issue of the treatment of Louise Herron at the hand of a radio shock jock and her lack of support from the NSW Government, but also the broader issue of appropriation of public space for commercial purposes.

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.

JOHN MENADUE & IAN McAULEY: A new leader, but no sight of leadership.

The Liberal Party has a new leader, but there is still a dearth of the leadership in the Liberal Party, which seems to be unable to deal with hard issues, such as meeting our emissions target and coping with the effects of climate change. And there are much harder problems of economic structure calling for political leadership.

IAN McAULEY. We sympathise with you Malcolm, but you should have read your mail

Re-visiting an open letter sent to Turnbull just after his narrow victory in 2016. And a suggestion how he may go on contributing to the public purpose.

IAN McAULEY. Turnbulls dead albatross: the National Party --Repost from 21 February 2018

Barnaby Joyces downfall has exposed the National Party as an outfit more concerned with dealing with corporate rent-seekers than with attending to the interests of its traditional rural base. It has also exposed Turnbulls lack of resolve in dealing with deep fissures in the political alliance between the Liberals and the Nationals.

IAN McAULEY. If we cant kill the NEG can we at least shape it into something useful?

The National Energy Guarantee can possibly be made to work to improve the reliability of power supplies, to reduce emissions, and to reduce peoples power bills but not in its present form.

IAN McAULEY. Don't rush to endorse the National Energy Guarantee: There's an election in a few months.

The best outcome for electricity consumers would be for state governments to kill the National Energy Guarantee when the COAG energy council meets on Friday. Having gone nine years without a well-grounded energy policy we can wait a few months until the next election.

IAN McAULEY. How political opportunism and poor journalism brought us a dumbed-down tax debate.

Neither the politicians nor the media are helping the electorate to understand the issues around corporate taxation. Lowering the corporate tax rate for large companies would do hardly anything for Australian investors, but corporate executives, board members and foreign investors would certainly stand to benefit.

IAN McAULEY. Whats so sacred about small business?

Flowing from the Financial Services Royal Commission is a stream of stories about the bad behaviour of big business, but is that distracting our attention from the shortcomings of small business?

IAN McAULEY. Duttons extended police powers wont be confined to airports

Duttons proposal to allow police to stop people at random at airports has little if anything to do with community safety, and everything to do with his desire to extend police powers and to help the government in its bid for re-election.

Ian McAuley: Morrisons budget: 23.9 is the new 42

Treasurer Morrison has brought down a pre-election budget. While it has little in the way of handouts, it is carefully designed to wedge Shorten between higher taxes and higher deficits, all based on the absurd idea that there is some merit in a tax cap of 23.9 per cent of GDP.

IAN McAULEY. The BCA needs to study Argentinian history, and some basic economics.

The Business Council of Australia is running a hysterical campaign against trade unions, Getup! and the Labor Party, as if corporate Australia is facing an existential threat. Thats partisan rubbish.

IAN McAULEY. Strong employment growth, until you look behind the figures.

The ABS monthly employment data released last Thursday shows that since the Coalition was elected five years ago the Australian economy has generated one million additional jobs. Does this indicate success of the Coalitions policies?

IAN McAULEY. A warning about team players

Bad behaviour by young cricketers in South Africa has unleashed strong reactions, including references to a decay of moral standards in the wider society. It should also prompt us to realise that team loyalty is not an unmitigated virtue.

IAN McAULEY. South Australia's election Xenophon no kingmaker but still a force

At first sight the South Australian election looks like a collapse of Xenophons SA Best Party and a stunning victory for the Liberal Party in taking office from Labor. But the reality is a little more complicated: SA Best is still a strong political force, and the Liberal Partys vote has actually slipped.

IAN McAULEY. Labors superannuation changes: clever cosmetics but a failure on equity, public revenue and economics.

There is something wrong when self-funded retirees can enjoy a six digit tax-free income, while others who earn their income through their own efforts pay normal rates of income tax. But Labors proposals on dividend imputation would sustain that inequity, would compromise public revenue, and would divert Australians savings away from high-return quality investments.

IAN McAULEY. Tax reform, not tax cuts

From an unlikely source comes a message that Australia doesnt need smaller government. Rather we need tax reform to ensure we can build a social safety net, and fund world-class health and education.

IAN McAULEY. Has Labor lost its nerve on private health insurance?

In his Press Club address last week Bill Shorten made some unflattering remarks about private health insurance. But every indication is that an incoming Labor government will maintain, or perhaps even strengthen, support for private health insurance. An opportunity to reform health care by phasing out private health insurance and by redirecting its $10 billion annual subsidy will be wasted.

IAN McAULEY. Reframing public ideas Part 8: Choice

Market-based capitalism, we are told, brings us choice. But often choice is within a limited range of similar products and services. In the name of supporting markets we can be denied the choice of being able to share services with one another, and the choice of opting out of markets.

IAN McAULEY. Reframing public ideas Part 7: Capital

Former Science Minister Barry Jones complained that we tend to think of capital in terms of stuff that hurts when we drop it on our toes. It's too easy to overlook other forms of capital human capital, social capital, institutional capital and environmental capital.

IAN McAULEY. Reframing public ideas Part 6: Jobs

Governments brag about the number of jobs created on their watch. Does our obsession with jobs distract us from other ways in which people can contribute to society and share in its bounty?

IAN McAULEY. Reframing public ideas Part 5: Competition

Competition is a means of encouraging innovation and productivity, and bringing those benefits to the community. When it becomes an end in itself, however, it can impose costs on us all.

IAN McAULEY. Private health insurers frighten the ALP-A REPOST from June 2 2017

There was a recent flurry of media excitement about a supposed secret hospital funding plan, which turned out to be no more than an option under consideration by a think-tank. But the real (and overlooked) issue in health funding is a high and growing hidden subsidy to private health insurance, where, contrary to traditional political alignments, Labor is proving to be more generous to private insurers than the Coalition.

IAN McAULEY. Reframing public ideas Part 4: Economy and environment

Arguments around climate change and other environmental matters tend to assume some tradeoff between economic and environmental objectives. But the overriding principle is about making the best use of scarce resources.

IAN McAULEY. Reframing public ideas Part 3: Economy and society

Many public debates are framed in terms of compromises or balances between economic and social objectives. Such ordering is confused: economic policies are meaningless unless they serve social ends.

IAN McAULEY. Reframing public ideas Part 2: The role of government

We tend to think of a left seeking bigger government and the right seeking smaller government. But such a framework can see governments simultaneously neglecting important areas while interfering where they shouldnt.

IAN McAULEY. Reframing public ideas Part 1: Leadership

Leadership is the hard task of getting communities to make progress on difficult problems requiring adaptive change. It is not to be confused with authority. Beware of the call for a strong leader.

IAN MCAULEY. Reframing public ideas

Our capacity to understand political and economic issues, and to shape better public policy, may be helped if we break out of established but no longer functional ways of looking at public policy re-framing in other words. Over January I will write eight articles about the way we frame public ideas. They will cover ideas of leadership, the role of government, economy and society, economy and environment, competition, jobs, capital and choice.

IAN MCAULEY. The finance sector: a drag on the real economy

The royal commission into the finance sector is more about detecting misconduct in individual institutions than exposing the ways in which the sector has misallocated investment funding and caused other economic distortions.

IAN MCAULEY. Queensland election: a policy challenge for the Coalition

The Queensland election has been a disaster for the Liberal-National Party. There is a risk that the Coalition will misinterpret the result and become even more alienated from the Australian electorate.

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