In The Australian today:
Here’s a disturbing fact: “Since 2008, the market share of Coles and Woolworths has risen from 60 per cent to 73 per cent.”
Or so Andrew Leigh, Labor’s spokesman on competition, tells us, in proposing yet more regulation.
16 May2016
Federal election 2016: super debate deserves better than polemics
Today in The Australian
Let’s start by clearing up the confusion which seems to have clouded even Judith Sloan’s usually razor-sharp insights. The government’s changes to superannuation, whatever one may think of them, are not retroactive: they do not seek to alter the state of the law at a time prior to their announcement.
Let’s start by clearing up the confusion which seems to have clouded even Judith Sloan’s usually razor-sharp insights. The government’s changes to superannuation, whatever one may think of them, are not retroactive: they do not seek to alter the state of the law at a time prior to their announcement.
09 May2016
Super should serve economic and social goals
Today in The Australian
In theory, putting your jewels in a safe protects them from theft. In practice, thieves know safes are where the jewels are kept. And if the thief has a key, you’re in trouble.
That, in a nutshell, is the story of super. There are, no doubt, many twists in the saga; but all the latest episode confirms is that when they are desperate for cash, governments can be trusted to breach whatever trust we have placed in them.
In theory, putting your jewels in a safe protects them from theft. In practice, thieves know safes are where the jewels are kept. And if the thief has a key, you’re in trouble.
That, in a nutshell, is the story of super. There are, no doubt, many twists in the saga; but all the latest episode confirms is that when they are desperate for cash, governments can be trusted to breach whatever trust we have placed in them.
07 May2016
US political disillusion made Donald Trump all the rage
In The Australian today:
So it’s Trump. And what a win.
After all, the field was one of the strongest in Republican history, ranging from Jeb Bush, whose family had produced two presidents and who had a solid claim in his own right, through to heavy hitters such as Marco Rubio, John Kasich and Ted Cruz. And the losers were hardly short of cash, consistently outspending Donald Trump in critical contests. Yet the prize has gone to the man who seemed to come out of nowhere.
So it’s Trump. And what a win.
After all, the field was one of the strongest in Republican history, ranging from Jeb Bush, whose family had produced two presidents and who had a solid claim in his own right, through to heavy hitters such as Marco Rubio, John Kasich and Ted Cruz. And the losers were hardly short of cash, consistently outspending Donald Trump in critical contests. Yet the prize has gone to the man who seemed to come out of nowhere.
02 May2016
Grattan Institute obsessed with wealth distribution
Today in The Australian
Did you realise “investors now account for more than half of new loans for housing, up from 29 per cent two decades ago”?
You would if you had read Hot Property, the Grattan Institute’s latest call to scrap negative gearing and increase capital gains taxes. Except that it isn’t true. Indeed, the statistical series the report cites as its source shows 35.8 per cent of new housing loans went to investors in February 2016.
Did you realise “investors now account for more than half of new loans for housing, up from 29 per cent two decades ago”?
You would if you had read Hot Property, the Grattan Institute’s latest call to scrap negative gearing and increase capital gains taxes. Except that it isn’t true. Indeed, the statistical series the report cites as its source shows 35.8 per cent of new housing loans went to investors in February 2016.
25 Apr2016
Labor is taking Europe’s road to ruin
Today in The Australian:
It is easy to understand why Labor wants to increase taxes on higher-income earners. And it does not take much nous to figure out why the government might feel under pressure to do so too. But what does require explaining is how the need to raise taxes in next month’s budget has become an unchallenged part of the conventional wisdom.
It is easy to understand why Labor wants to increase taxes on higher-income earners. And it does not take much nous to figure out why the government might feel under pressure to do so too. But what does require explaining is how the need to raise taxes in next month’s budget has become an unchallenged part of the conventional wisdom.