Is the US on the path to becoming a failed state?
The deliberate undermining of democratic norms and the conflation of personal power with national interest are consistent with patterns seen in states that have tipped into authoritarian rule.
Recent articles in Economy
10 June 2025
What Trump is building is the problem, not the man himself
We treat Donald Trump as the primary obstacle to a smooth trade order but he is not the problem. What he is building is the problem because it replicates the rising mechanisms of democratically elected political fascism.
10 June 2025
Decommissioning rates show gas heating could be gone by 2032, but oil exec bonuses might suffer
While Peter Dutton lost the election and with it his plan to force gas exporters to reserve a portion of their gas for domestic Australian consumers, concerns around availability of gas are not going away. According to AEMO, Victoria, NSW and South Australia are on the verge of gas shortages by around 2028 to 2029.
9 June 2025
Dozens of big industries want to plug in to Australia’s first 100 pct net renewable (wind and solar) grid
The death of manufacturing? It’s a constant refrain among the conservative nut jobs on Murdoch’s Sky After Dark and within the far right elements of the federal Coalition, who insist that more wind and solar will be the death of industry in Australia.
9 June 2025
The Hegseth directive: Australia, spend more!
Australia’s obsequiousness before US power was again on show at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a security forum convened by the International Institute for Strategic Studies to discuss matters relevant to the Indo-Pacific.
8 June 2025
Grounds for optimism over bilateral ties with China
As living in another country shows, mutual understanding is built on respect and openness.
7 June 2025
Warren Report: Musk leveraged government access for personal gain
Since Election Day, Musk's staggering net worth has increased by over $100 billion, the report states.
5 June 2025
Inequality and inheritance taxes
With a few exceptions (such as Andrew Leigh, Nicki Hutley and Angela Jackson), mainstream Australian economists — including me — haven’t thought, spoken or written as much about the causes and consequences of increasing inequality as perhaps we should have done in recent decades.
4 June 2025
Navigating a world of revisionist powers
We are living in a world with three leading great powers — all with explicitly revisionist aims when it comes to the international rules-based order.
4 June 2025
A carbon tax and some key policy challenges
A carbon tax will obviously help reduce carbon emissions and achievement of the net zero target, but it will also help raise the revenue needed to fund essential government services and promote Australia’s economic development.
4 June 2025
Move to revoke Darwin port lease is a political decision
Moves to force divestiture of the port of Darwin damage Australia's standing as a reliable investment destination and represents a triumph of foreign influence on policy.
3 June 2025
Malaysia keeps fractious ASEAN family together
Kudos to Malaysia. Putrajaya has just finished hosting the 46th ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur over six days. Judging from the attendance, statements and declarations, the summit was a great success.
3 June 2025
The US dual economy: trending toward the periphery
Over the past 45 years, the United States has experienced deepening economic divisions between the rich and poor.
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