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Tag Archives: Jon Stanford
JOHN MENADUE. The submarine mess that Pearls and Irritations has high lighted for 18 months.
At the National Press Club yesterday Mike Keating and Hugh White again drew attention to the very serious problems of our proposed submarine purchases. We will be following their addresses further. The following is a repost from December 16 last … Continue reading
JON STANFORD. Australia’s climate change policy mess: quo vadis?
Make no mistake: Malcolm Turnbull’s pusillanimous refusal even to consider the option of an emissions intensity scheme (EIS) for electricity generation represents a massive abdication of responsibility to the Australian community.
Posted in Environment and climate, Politics
Tagged carbon price, Emissions Intensity Scheme, Jon Stanford, renewable energy target, security of electricity supply
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JOHN MENADUE. Cars, submarines –costs and jobs and a likely disaster.
Last week we saw the end of car manufacturing in Australia by Ford. It was a sad day for many people. Toyota and General Motors will be gone next year. Joe Hockey goaded our car manufacturers to leave Australia. … Continue reading
JON STANFORD. Business welfare under the Coalition: two case studies (2)
This is the second of two articles by Jon Stanford on the Coalition’s approach to industry protection and ‘business welfare’. Part 1 (Motor Cars) can be found at Jon Stanford. Business welfare under the Coalition: two case studies. Naval shipbuilding … Continue reading
JON STANFORD. Business welfare under the Coalition: two case studies (1)
The Abbott government came to power with a Treasurer who announced that the “age of entitlement” was dead and that he had no time for “business welfare”. In these two articles, Jon Stanford examines how this philosophy has been … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Politics
Tagged John Button, John Howard, Jon Stanford, protection of car industry
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JON STANFORD and JOHN MENADUE. The submarine confusion continues. Is the way being prepared for Australia to acquire nuclear submarines?
REPOST In an interesting development relating to Australia’s new submarine acquisition, Peter Jennings, Executive Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), has written a piece in The Australian (7 June 2016) that is clearly at odds with the Institute’s … Continue reading
JON STANFORD. Brexit – UK is unprepared.
The thrust of Michael Keating’s essay on Brexit is that the vote in favour of leaving the European Union taken by the British electorate on 23 June will be bad for the UK but will have a minimal impact on … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Brexit, future of EU, Jon Stanford, UK preparedness for Brexit
2 Comments
John Menadue. Are conservatives better economic managers?
Are conservatives better economic managers? Part 1 In my blog of 3 May 2016, I queried the claim by Malcolm Turnbull and apparently supported by many media commentators and also by the public, that conservatives are better economic managers. The … Continue reading
Jon Stanford. French submarines and the East and South China Seas. – why?
A response to Richard Broinowski. While the government might emphasise the roles for the new submarine that may be regarded as defensive – “intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance” – Richard Broinowski ignores perhaps the most important role, namely power projection in … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Economy, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged French submarines, Jon Stanford, Richard Broinowski, South China Sea
1 Comment
Tony Wood. The $50 b. submarine project.
Jon Stanford’s papers on the submarine project make an important contribution and deserve widespread circulation particularly among our decision makers. The replacement submarine decision has profound implications for all Australians. Its intention is to provide a deterrent to “potential adversaries”, … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Economy, Politics
Tagged Australian submarine, Jon Stanford, Tony Wood
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Jon Stanford and Michael Keating. A more efficient submarine solution.
This week the Melbourne Age, SMH and the Canberra Times carried the following article written by Jon Stanford and Michael Keating on the $50 b. submarine project. This article is based on a three part article written by Jon Stanford … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Economy, International Affairs, Media, Politics
Tagged $50 b. submarines., Canberra Times, Jon Stanford, Melbourne Age, Michael Keating, SMH
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Brian Toohey. The $50 b. submarine purchase.
Jon Stanford’s three-part series on the Turnbull government’s determination to spend $50 billion on big new submarines is a welcome contribution to understanding what’s at stake at a time of cuts elsewhere. The decision risks repeating the Hawke government’s disastrous … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Economy, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Brian Toohey, Collins Class Submarines, conventional submarines, Defence White Paper, Jon Stanford, nuclear submarines
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John Stanford. Technology, economics and Australia’s future submarine. Part 3 of 3.
Part 3: Implications: a more efficient and less risky approach Introduction The purpose of this three-part article is not to question the government’s requirement for advanced submarine capability but rather to explore some of the technological, economic and financial issues, … Continue reading
Jon Stanford. Technology, economics and Australia’s future submarine Part 2 of 3.
Part 2: Economic and financial risks Introduction The first part of this article considered the technological risks involved in the decision, as set out in the 2016 Defence White Paper, to procure twelve new submarines at an acquisition cost of … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged $50 b. submarine, Defence White Paper, delivery of submarine, Jon Stanford, made-in-Australia submarines, submarine capability
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Jon Stanford. Technology, economics and Australia’s future submarine. Part 1 of 3
Part 1: Technology risk Introduction The most important acquisition included in the government’s Defence White Paper, released in February 2016, is the decision to procure twelve new submarines for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). With an acquisition cost of … Continue reading
Jon Stanford. Paris Agreement on Climate Change: Implications for Australia
Despite a generally positive reception to the Paris accord on climate change, the ideologues on both sides of the debate regard it as a failure. For the sceptics, the agreement that developing countries (which played a negligible role in causing … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Environment and climate, Politics
Tagged carbon regulation, clean technology fund, emissions targets, future of coal, Jon Stanford, Paris and climate change
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Jon Stanford. Defence procurement and the new submarine
When people remember Gough Whitlam, few would identify him as an economic rationalist. Economics was not his primary interest and, partly because of the perceived urgency of implementing “the programme” after 23 years in opposition, partly because of the incompetence … Continue reading
Jon Stanford. The Pathway to Two Degrees: Should we ban New Coal Mines?
Leading up to this month’s major climate change conference in Paris, there has been a welcome increase worldwide in the commitment to address climate change generally and, in particular, to restrict global warming to two degrees Celsius. Although they are … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Environment and climate, Politics
Tagged banning new coal mines, International Energy Agency, Jon Stanford, Paris Climate Conference, stranded assets, taxing carbon emissions, two degree target
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Jon Stanford. Australia’s New Submarine: What is its Mission?
Recent papers published in Pearls and Irritations by Jon Stanford and Rear-Admiral Ian Richards have suggested respectively that: the case for providing significant financial support to the naval shipbuilding industry is flawed, both on defence policy and industry policy grounds … Continue reading
Jon Stanford. The government’s new naval shipbuilding policy
I think this is an outstanding article on naval shipbuilding, industry policy and economic prospects in South Australia. Jon Staford suggests that in terms of industry policy, ‘continuing to prop up the car industry … would probably have been … Continue reading
Jon Stanford. Climate Change Policy: a wedging opportunity for the ALP?
For those who believe that Australian elections should be based on a contest of ideas about public policy, developments at the national conference of the ALP in July 2015 will provide some basis for optimism. In contrast to some previous … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Environment and climate, Politics
Tagged Australian emission reductions, climate change, Direct Action, emission reduction commitments, Emissions Trading System, Jon Stanford, Malcolm Turnbull, Neo-Luddite, renewable energy target
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Jon Stanford. Policy Approach to Climate Change
Policy Series Given that the substantial threat brought about by anthropogenic climate change has been recognised for a quarter of a century, it is remarkable that global policy makers have been so dilatory in responding to it. Voluminous scientific and … Continue reading