Layered perversion of Australia's defence policy
An amazing thing has happened. Our taxpayer-funded think-tank Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has commissioned analysis by Robert Macklin which shows that the public debate on Australia’s defence has been biased.
Recent articles in Economy
8 August 2025
Beijing steps up as Washington steps back
US President Donald Trump’s tariffs are having two broad impacts on the global economy – they are eroding international confidence in US leadership and disrupting global supply chains, and causing rapid geographic restructuring of international trade.
7 August 2025
Roundtable will fix nothing unless we can all park our self-interest
I’m not sure if it’s happening by accident or design, but we may be about to convince ourselves that, though our democracy isn’t nearly as stuffed up as America’s, we’re fast making ourselves ungovernable, unable to agree on how to fix our problems.
7 August 2025
The end of jobs?
By the 2040s, half to three-quarters of human society may be out of work, replaced by AI and sleepless robots.
6 August 2025
Economists want a carbon price comeback – but does Australia have the political courage?
Bold economic ideas are flowing ahead of this month’s roundtable convened by the Albanese Government, aimed at boosting Australia’s productivity and economy, and repairing the budget. Among the biggest ideas to emerge is: should Australia resurrect its carbon price?
6 August 2025
Bringing government back – but not all the way
The Albanese Government wants Australians to believe that the era of market dogma is over.
4 August 2025
The GST — past, present, future — and always tense
There’s little elegance in the way Australia approaches tax reform. It’s never a highway cruise.
4 August 2025
A fairer tax and welfare system for Australia 2025 with no-one left behind? Only if we act now
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s re-election speech brought a promise many of us hold close to our hearts: together we are turning the corner, and together we will make our way forward with no-one held back and no-one left behind.
1 August 2025
Temu and Shein: cheap and very nasty
A garbage truck full of textiles is dumped in landfill every second. Sixty percent of the materials used in the fashion industry comes from plastic in one form or another. The production of nylon and polyester that is used is highly energy-intensive and relies on fossil fuels in the production process.
31 July 2025
Tax, productivity growth and equality
Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ upcoming economic summit has triggered renewed debate over the links between tax, productivity, growth and equity. And inevitably arguments between the right and the left – can we understand both and find a way through? I hope so.
31 July 2025
India tests strategic autonomy in fractured trade order
A flurry of free trade agreements with the UAE, Australia, the European Free Trade Association and the UK signals a more outward-looking Indian trade policy.
31 July 2025
The productivity paradox
A century ago, industrialists measured economic virility by tonnes of coal hewn per shift. Today, Canberra’s spreadsheets obsess over “GDP per hour worked”.
30 July 2025
Roundtable warning: When they say ‘modelling’ grab your bulldust detector
The warm-up for next month’s three-day economic roundtable has begun, and this week we’ll start hearing from worthies who know exactly what we should do to improve our productivity. What’s more, they have the modelling to prove it.
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