Budget politics and a warning from Slovakia - Weekly Roundup
May 17, 2024
An unnecessarily conservative budget from the government and a pathetic response from the opposition, how we are so generous to Western Australia, the Coalition and nukes, the disgrace of McBrides jail sentence. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Because of commitments requiring me to travel, I am taking a three-week break from the roundups. (That should give the budget noise time to abate.) The roundups will resume on Pearls and Irritations and on my own website on Saturday June 15.
Missing a plan to reform and raise taxes. Treasurys cleverness in using the CPI as a measure of inflation. Slowly rising wages, a Keatingesque-scale economic transformation, and a big problem with housing. Budget politics including Duttons pathetic response.
How 24 million Australians living east of Longitude 129 degrees are generously subsidizing our most prosperous state. Cooking with gas, even if we dont want to. The shonky economics of football stadiums.
McBrides jail sentence: cant we maintain better standards than Russia? The Coalitions nuclear power policy explained: its about the partys internal divisions. How John Howard debased the nations policy debate and it hasnt recovered. A warning from Slovakia.
Three ways we can make better use of the $250 million we spend on health (start by getting rid of private insurance). A positive evaluation of the budget from a health perspective. A reminder that people are still dying with or of Covid.
Wider systems thinking. An observer on how we have changed over 50 years. What happens when we stop breeding. We need to think more clearly about regions because we all live in one.