tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68259296343526549382012-02-13T21:00:08.922-08:00Explorations in classical liberal political economyJulie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comBlogger1181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-63681671134620738492012-02-13T20:42:00.000-08:002012-02-13T21:00:09.089-08:00

A bit of light‑hearted relief…In between writing thesis chapters and undertaking econometric modelling, I have been watching the proceedings of Question Time of the commonwealth House of Representatives with some interest.My nomination for parliamentary performer of the year thus far is Peter Slipper, for providing a quantum leap in a sense of dignity, proprietary and authority to the role of

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-64788549124442282602012-02-11T18:25:00.000-08:002012-02-11T19:39:26.862-08:00

n a post dated 31 January 2012, I outlined a framework calling for policy‑minded classical liberals and libertarians to devote their intellectual attentions toward building the intellectual and practical policy cases for depoliticising what economists Arnold Kling and Nick Schulz referred to as the ‘new commanding heights’ of education and health care.I argued that the task of radically

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-61808669534158523322012-02-09T14:51:00.000-08:002012-02-09T14:59:17.486-08:00

From independence to dependence: Government dependency grows in the traditional land of the free.If the 'I don't believe that any taxes are good taxes' statement attributed to Stephen Harper is true, then the Canadian PM has risen in my estimation!James Dorn's critique of the US Federal Reserve.Frank Furedi on the most risky of pastimes undertaken by populist political representatives -

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-77304419038762354232012-02-03T16:08:00.000-08:002012-02-03T16:10:19.271-08:00

"Even if taxes on income were otherwise the most unexceptionable, the adoption of the principle of graduation would make them about the very worst that could be devised. The moment you abandon, in the framing of such taxes, the cardinal principle of exacting from all individuals the same proportion of their income or of their property, you are at sea without rudder or compass, and there is no

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-87625396743474500812012-02-03T03:59:00.000-08:002012-02-03T04:01:46.172-08:00

I have an opinion piece in today's edition of The Australian newspaper on the economics and ethics of public sector indebtedness:"While most Australians were tanning themselves at the beach during their summer breaks, the federal opposition and the Gillard government traded blows over what will be a key political issue this year: financial management. Opposition finance spokesman Andrew Robb

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-72103479195643704482012-02-03T03:33:00.000-08:002012-02-03T04:14:07.621-08:00

Jerry Jordan illustrates that activities which most ordinary people would conceive, correctly, as an economic loss are invariably seen by political actors as worthwhile.My IPA colleague Chris Berg on the geo-political underpinnings of demands for more non-English language education in schools (as an aside, did anyone else feel that the ABC's report this week about a 23-year old, who seemed to

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-7486341738783890802012-01-31T17:49:00.000-08:002012-01-31T17:55:32.038-08:00

A neat cartoon illustrating the inanity, and even insanity if you will, of political responses to failed political interventions in the market process. Substituting Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard for US President Obama in this cartoon would not represent a far-fetched stretching of the imagination, either.

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-47267676226088400682012-01-31T04:47:00.001-08:002012-02-09T02:58:09.902-08:00

At the October 2010 General Meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society, held in Sydney, Australia, Professor Peter Boettke submitted the remark during a discussion session that the policy reform orientation of classical liberals and libertarians during the twenty-first century should be directed towards:• the enumeration and implementation of fiscal rules as part of efforts to constrain the growth in

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-50144804947695267952012-01-26T16:12:00.001-08:002012-01-26T16:32:22.508-08:00

Plenty of very useful, thought-provoking material across the internet this week, so let me share it all with you!Judith Sloan on a topic close to my heart as of late, the Rahn curve.A book review by Daniel Hannan on the rise and fall of British turnpike roads.Trevor Burrus sets the record straight as to what values libertarianism does, and does not, reflect and represent.British Conservative MP

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-6689893875108457582012-01-24T23:47:00.001-08:002012-01-24T23:52:04.832-08:00

Below is the transcript of an opinion piece of mine, published today on the ABC Drum website (link is here):'Putting aside her tendency to namedrop personalities and organisations that the Australian left loathe the most, such as Sarah Palin and the Institute of Public Affairs, Elizabeth Humphrys has revealed just what it is about feminism that receives so much public scorn and disrespect these

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-40059039018830181312012-01-20T22:08:00.000-08:002012-01-20T22:17:55.908-08:00

In recent years the numbers of Australian industry associations and lobby groups (including political parties) have increased, from 10,477 establishments in 2001‑02 to 12,387 in 2009-10. Given that the primary purpose of these organisations is to influence government policies in an effort to realise specific objectives, this statistic provides prima facie evidence that rent seeking activity

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-85241949818265719172012-01-19T16:25:00.000-08:002012-01-19T17:49:18.478-08:00

On the Catallaxy blog, my friend Steve Kates freely nominates the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as the greatest woman who ever lived during the twentieth century.There will be many readers of Catallaxy, and indeed this blog, who might find it hard pressed to nominate another woman for such a prestigious assessment. The public choice theorist and Brit Charles Rowley has provided

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-7431098722510218142012-01-19T16:05:00.000-08:002012-01-19T16:11:08.023-08:00

A nice video on the economic pathologies of government subsidies, narrated by Art Carden (check out the fossilised windmills and solar panels!!).A two part series critiquing the rise of secular theocracy.Veronique de Rugy on the intergenerational wealth transfers that the Occupy crowd overlook.Richard Epstein on why we should trust free enterprise rather than ‘sustainable capitalism.’Reflections

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-88454859691265171042012-01-17T02:48:00.000-08:002012-01-17T03:16:02.434-08:00

As part of my PhD on the economic consequences of government size in Australia, I have been writing an intellectual history of thought on the non-monotonic relationship between government size and economic performance referred to broadly as the "Barro-Armey-Rahn-Scully" (BARS) curve.The former United States House majority leader, Richard Keith "Dick" Armey, has been credited with specifically

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-31064406429864661152012-01-15T10:33:00.000-08:002012-01-15T10:36:35.460-08:00

Sydney Morning Herald columnist Paul Sheehan on who comes first for the Australian Labor Party, and why entrepreneurs suffer as a consequence:"Labor may only have 29 per cent support in the polls, but that support is built on unions, especially the public sector unions, and it is their power the federal government is committed to entrenching as its first and enduring priority."(Source: Paul

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-16703348927934594682012-01-14T03:49:00.000-08:002012-01-14T03:58:00.206-08:00

Over at the EconLog blog, Bryan Caplan asks readers to provide alternatives to the conventional gross domestic product measure. My response (in agreement with another commentator who said that GDP should exclude government activity) is as follows:"the question as to whether or not to include governmental activities in a quantitative measure of national income/output was a highly controversial

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-22072644674967339072012-01-13T04:47:00.000-08:002012-01-13T16:25:32.234-08:00

The latest round of promised government handouts to the Australian automotive industry, including a $53 million grants package from the commonwealth and Victorian governments to Ford, represents yet another win for the insider clique of politicians, crony car capitalists and manufacturing unionists.The clear loser from the seemingly endless subsidisation of an inefficient local industry is, again

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-7292302935060613692012-01-12T15:12:00.000-08:002012-01-13T00:05:15.077-08:00

The latest Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal index of economic freedom has been released. Edwin Fuelner warns of the diminution of relative economic freedom in the West.Michael Tanner on the myth of a growing US rich-poor gap.Veronique de Rugy and David Boaz on the chimerical deep cuts to US defence expenditure.John Roskam on a most important debate that Australia needs to have: why retain

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-82770329974936468072012-01-10T02:32:00.000-08:002012-01-10T02:40:52.623-08:00

At a time when governments both here and abroad express sweet political sentiments, and coercively pump taxpayers' funds, towards banks, car manufacturers, solar panelists, windmill makers, and the like, what is needed is a reminder of the timeless message from a great French liberal concerning the costs of government interventions in markets:"When authority throws itself in the way of this

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-52106929340568740502012-01-08T17:47:00.000-08:002012-01-09T04:00:54.862-08:00

In today’s edition of The Australian newspaper (subscription required), our local entrepreneur-cum-Malthusian Dick Smith has presented a confused, and confusing, opinion piece that attempts to justify the extension of the GST to online retail purchases of products sourced offshore.From the anecdotal evidence available, it certainly appears that online retailing has become an increasingly popular

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-61398498123072939292012-01-07T20:32:00.000-08:002012-01-08T01:47:37.909-08:00

The great liberal scholar, James M. Buchanan, when speaking of the "soul of classical liberalism" once famously wrote:"My focus is on the differences ... between those whose advocacy stems from an understanding of the very soul of the integrated ideational entity and those whose advocacy finds its origins primarily in the results of scientific inquiry and the dictates of enlightened

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-20204058348092963452012-01-05T18:56:00.000-08:002012-01-06T16:20:57.634-08:00

A selection of some of my favourite articles, opinion pieces, research and other items appearing on the www for the week ending 6 January 2012:Judith Sloan on the economic effects of prescriptive labour market regulation in Europe.The timeless insights of Geoffrey Blainey reflected in his reminisce of 2011.Edward Crane on the good of Ron Paul; Chris Berg on the bad, if not ugly, of Ron Paul.Now,

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-87863267503386576812011-12-11T15:45:00.000-08:002011-12-11T15:49:23.520-08:00

I have an opinion piece published in The Canberra Times on the hazardous fiscal dynamics of the European welfare state, and lessons for Australia:"The question as to how European nations arrived at their present state of economic dysfunction is perhaps as important as what they should do to revive their sick economies.The factors which have driven Europe's crisis are deep seated, and cannot be

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-76560182369747459952011-12-08T18:11:00.000-08:002011-12-11T15:45:42.598-08:00

Last week I had an opinion piece published in The Adelaide Advertiser on the past, and present, of government intervention in the Australian automotive industry:"The idea the Australian automotive industry can remain competitive on the global stage, while being propped up by trade barriers and subsidies, cannot be sustained.Until the 1980s, the evolution of the industry effectively was governed

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-92171346215352760532011-11-22T15:23:00.001-08:002011-11-22T15:26:52.594-08:00

Below is a transcript of an opinion piece of mine published in The Canberra Times on the importance of profitability as an economic signal within a free-market economic system:"It seems that one obligatory item can be found at any protest rally these days, regardless of its cause.Be it an 'occupy' mob protesting against relative income inequality, a group campaigning for an environmental cause or

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-74868405217839361312011-09-27T22:01:00.000-07:002011-09-27T22:05:04.792-07:00

* Including politicians, policy advisers and academics who believe that almost every aspect of human interaction are of public policy relevance.In my last post I referred to important caveats offered by James M Buchanan and W Craig Stubblebine concerning the application of externality theory.Another aspect of externality analysis that Buchanan and Stubblebine note, but do not analyse in detail

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-47054534508401683862011-08-16T23:24:00.000-07:002011-08-16T23:28:41.738-07:00

* Including politicians, policy advisers and academics who believe that almost every aspect of human interaction are of public policy relevance. The concept of externality assumes a seat on the throne of neoclassical economic ‘market failure’ theory, which sees debilitating real world departures from the pristine, but unrealisable, efficiency of perfect competition everywhere but, curiously

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-73221801056445988182011-07-20T19:42:00.000-07:002011-07-24T16:44:26.292-07:00

‘If we were to apply the unmodified, uncurbed, rules of the micro-cosmos (i.e., of the small band or troop, or of, say, our families) to the macro-cosmos (our wider civilisation), as our instincts and sentimental yearnings often make us wish to do, we would destroy it. Yet if we were always to apply the rules of the extended order to our more intimate groupings, we would crush them. So we must

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-55158899143272966722011-06-25T07:37:00.000-07:002011-06-26T17:31:52.760-07:00

During the proceedings of the IPA/Mannkal Genius of Western Civilisation conference held in Melbourne last week, I made a comment during a panel session that the venerable liberal principle of the separation of religion and state is at risk of being blurred by the implementation of governmental policies designed to placate environmental beliefs.In this post I seek to expand on this point.One of

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-87618765358421613712011-06-19T20:52:00.000-07:002011-06-20T00:50:22.047-07:00

One of the greatest threats to the maintenance of liberty is the advancing exercise of government's monopoly powers of coercion through regulation and taxation, as well as expenditure that is inconsistent with individual preferences.As Ludwig von Mises noted in his magnus opus, Human Action, government interventions serve to forcibly redirect the operation of the market economy along those lines

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-61478180899643680252011-06-11T00:19:00.000-07:002011-06-13T16:53:21.652-07:00

‘I often find that this notion of the nanny state, it’s trotted out when people are a bit hard up for an argument’ (Lee Rhiannon, ABC Q&A program, 6 June 2011)A strand of argument occasionally applied by proponents of certain regulatory (and, often, taxing and public spending) interventions by the state is that their critics rely on little more than the art of (cheap, given the cost of talk in an

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-81064162961964294482011-06-07T03:42:00.000-07:002011-06-07T17:18:23.285-07:00

One of the more interesting features of yet another quality edition of the CIS Policy journal is a thoughtful review by Robert Carling of a recent book authored by Swedish economists Andreas Bergh and Magnus Henrekson Government Size and Implications for Economic Growth (as an aside, I have read this publication and do highly recommend it).Bergh and Henrekson devote a chapter on the adverse

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-40275106799504589532010-12-24T17:14:00.000-08:002010-12-24T17:20:12.554-08:00

I was recently asked to write a short essay, of fewer than 750 words, describing a book or idea inimical to the idea of liberty, and how a repudiation of such book or idea might lead to a promotion of liberty. Below was my response:The onset of the ‘global financial crisis’ since late 2008 invoked a range of policy responses by governments that, in effect, expanded the size and scope of public

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-40503356111362200972010-12-02T23:23:00.000-08:002010-12-02T23:42:12.322-08:00

*A revised version of a post that appeared on my previous Political Economist blog*In 1956 the book The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality by twentieth-century classical liberal great Ludwig von Mises was first published. This work investigated the psychological underpinnings of anti-market biases that was (and still is) widespread throughout advanced economies, predating important recent contributions

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-91152551611001864812010-11-19T02:38:00.000-08:002010-11-19T02:44:00.512-08:00

Aside from the economic value proposition that is Australian coal mining and coal-fired electricity generation spin-off activities, the exploitation of the nation’s coal resource base have delivered enormous social benefits to individuals, families and communities.It has been estimated that the Australian coal industry employs 37,000 people directly. While a portion of these people are actual

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-48608486699739794582010-11-08T18:33:00.000-08:002010-11-11T04:58:16.169-08:00

While intellectual debate continues (see here for a recent and fairly representative sample) over the origins of growth in Western economies - including Australia - there is little question that the ample availability of quality coal reserves has played, and continues to play, a significant role in underpinning Australia's economic performance.At the outset, there exist substantial mining

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-81345014397724552012010-10-21T07:37:00.000-07:002010-10-21T07:43:18.225-07:00

An appreciation of the importance of coal in economic and social development is arguably built into the genetic material of anybody born and raised in Ipswich, Queensland (as I was during the 1970s and 1980s through to the early 1990s).With coal strewn about the outer perimeters of my local school oval, and throughout bushland, I had ample resources to indulge my childhood tastes in palaentology.

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-9328109562428908332010-10-08T18:28:00.000-07:002010-10-09T14:44:56.099-07:00

Does it make you happy?Are you feeling happy?…Now that I’m lost left with nothing.(Lyrics from ‘Happy?’ by American metal band Mudvayne)Following my previous post on a (partial) defense of the Gross Domestic Product measure, there is a growing level of discussion about potential alternatives to GDP.A number of the ‘GDP abolitionists’ suggest that Western countries should emulate, or slightly

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-53920736972048760932010-10-08T15:32:00.001-07:002010-10-08T15:40:30.322-07:00

With recent opinion polling suggesting that the Victorian Greens may capture up to four inner-city seats at the November 2010 state election, perhaps leading to a hung parliament, it is necessary to subject their economic policies to close scrutiny.The state Greens, led by an increasingly cocky Greg Barber, have released a range of policies available on their website that will have a significant

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-18809059619778177612010-10-04T20:29:00.000-07:002010-10-04T23:46:23.642-07:00

The human inclination to measure and record the existing state of its economic and social welfare is almost as old as human existence itself.In 1086 the Domesday Book was completed, providing an account of the worth of land and livestock throughout England. About six hundred years later William Petty published Verbum Sapienti (1665) and Political Arithmetick (1676), early forerunners of national

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-23831260321447893452010-09-20T17:39:00.000-07:002010-09-20T17:41:11.527-07:00

*Transcript of opinion piece that appeared in today's edition of The Canberra Times*The new Labor-Green dominated Government has magnified the deep uncertainties already being felt by Australia's non-government schools over funding.The Rudd-Gillard Labor government maintained a holding pattern on school funding in its first term, providing a degree of stability in recurrent public funding for the

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-86484433395424677832010-09-13T23:13:00.000-07:002010-09-13T23:17:13.778-07:00

'... how many crimes, wars and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not anyone have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows: 'Beware of listening to this imposter; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody'' (Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1755)While the Australian

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-33987680015127179572010-09-11T06:15:00.000-07:002010-09-11T06:21:52.862-07:00

One of the more bizarre features of the recent 2010 federal election campaign was the repeated claim by the Greens that they are a party of small business. As stated in a media release during the campaign, ‘[t]he Greens will be a voice for small business in the Australian Senate in the face of powerful lobby of large corporations and the mining industry.’Come again? The Greens as a genuine rival

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-31355238898985416492010-09-03T03:07:00.000-07:002010-09-03T03:51:32.930-07:00

Previously I stated that the Greens favour a redistributionist fiscal agenda, compulsorily acquiring tax revenues largely (but not exclusively) from high-wealth individuals to pay off their political supporters. These include idealistic students enrolled in tertiary education institutions, the high-leisure artisans, and public sector workers who shirk the private sector life of

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-87672015346006862822010-08-29T23:32:00.000-07:002010-08-29T23:52:30.065-07:00

‘The progressives are winning out in the Labor Party.’ (Personal comments to me from a Labor Party member)Much effort has already been made by the major political parties, pollsters, political scientists and media commentators at dissecting the 2010 federal election results.In particular, much ink has already been spilt concerning the results attained by the Australian Greens – which saw them

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-22526390218220760102010-08-29T20:41:00.000-07:002010-08-29T20:49:33.937-07:00

"Resources are highly dynamic functional concepts; they are not, they become, they evolve out of the triune interaction of nature, man, and culture. ... The command over energy, especially inanimate energy, is the key to resource availability. And, finally, the world is not a 'bundle of hay' but a living growing complex of matter and energy, a process rather than a thing. ... The problem of

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-19091607277525846272010-08-23T18:36:00.000-07:002010-08-23T18:39:03.601-07:00

Opinion piece published in today's edition of The Courier Mail:"With a hung parliament delivering rounds of political horse-trading between the two major parties and independents over the next days and weeks, the recent uncertainties affecting the mining sector are set to continue.At the centre of this uncertainty is whether or not a federal mining tax will now be imposed in the first place, let

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-75875769849170035612010-08-21T23:49:00.000-07:002010-08-24T17:35:53.366-07:00

As widely expected the Greens registered their best-ever result to date in a federal general election.With 78 per cent of the primary vote counted, the Greens received 1.2 million first preference votes for the House of Representatives or a 11.4 per cent share of the primary vote. This is up from 967,800 HoR first preference votes in 2007 (a 7.8 per cent primary vote share).With the help of first

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-33714278718400706012010-08-18T19:54:00.000-07:002010-08-18T19:59:22.859-07:00

The Greens’ announcement yesterday that they would seek to quarantine $2 billion from the proceeds of a mining tax towards government schools should come as no surprise whatsoever.As I have indicated previously on this blog, the Greens might subscribe to a quasi-religious pagan belief system of environmental protection at all costs but, in the end, they are just another political party.The Greens

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-79157057819028301572010-08-16T17:41:00.000-07:002010-08-16T17:53:01.635-07:00

Taking the opinion polls as a forecast for what might transpire at the ballot box on August 21, the upcoming federal election could deliver a European style red green coalition.Within this, it is likely that one of two political combinations could emerge in the next parliament. Labor could win an outright majority in the lower house, with the Greens holding the balance of power in the

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-73897848541947130022010-08-03T21:28:00.000-07:002010-08-03T21:36:02.002-07:00

The effects of mining sector activity in Australia, as with all other economic pursuits, are best seen from the long run perspective:"Community attention ... has often been confined to adjustments and potential short term difficulties associated with minerals sector expansion, ignoring the fact that a competitive and growing minerals sector has raised, and will continue to raise, living standards

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-29716098503587360372010-08-02T21:08:00.000-07:002010-08-02T23:39:29.285-07:00

Taking current opinion polls as a forecast for what might transpire at the ballot box on 21 August 2010, the federal election is likely to deliver something akin to a European-style red-green watermelon coalition of convenience between Labor and the Greens.Given the recently-struck preference arrangement between the two parties, in which the Greens will give Labor its preferences in 50 marginal

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-53234176493108159642010-07-27T01:56:00.000-07:002010-07-27T02:02:37.985-07:00

Taking current opinion polls as a forecast for what might transpire from the 21 August 2010 federal election, Australia is likely to witness something akin to a continental European style red-green watermelon coalition.A likely scenario is that the Labor government will be returned for a second term, with a reduced majority in the House of Representatives. The party that most closely resembles

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-63587242226076442792010-07-22T04:03:00.000-07:002010-07-22T04:13:26.180-07:00

"Not only making something but doing something also, is called producing. Not he alone who labors with his hands, but generally, whoever does, promotes, occasions, or facilitates anything that may tend to the benefit or comfort of his fellow-creatures, deserves to be called a producer; and, at times, he deserves it the more, the less you see him move his hands or feet. Many a merchant, while

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-51794394130562173592010-07-18T17:06:00.000-07:002010-07-18T17:13:33.389-07:00

*A book review forthcoming in the next edition of the IPA Review*The criticisms levelled at the institutions of market capitalism have metamorphosised over the past two centuries.The writings of Marx and Engels in the nineteenth century emphasised that the private ownership of the means of production benefited the bourgeoisie at the expense of the labouring classes.Closely tied to the notion that

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-90608624599375178602010-07-17T06:37:00.000-07:002010-07-17T20:11:40.834-07:00

The defence of the state of Israel, once a cause celebre of the political left in the aftermath of the Holocaust, by the political left now appears everywhere to be in retreat.Arguably, the development of the left’s now vigorous campaign of boycott, divesture and sanctions (BDS) against Israel could be sourced to the 2001 NGO Forum of the United Nations Durban Conference on Racism.Article 424 of

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-39071965225871440852010-07-13T04:09:00.000-07:002010-07-13T04:12:48.057-07:00

The voluminous literature on the relationship between government size and economic performance suggests that there are a host of channels through which the growth of government adversely affects economic growth:• The imposition of non-lump sum taxation may distort the incentives of private sector economic agents to work, save, invest and produce, thereby reducing economic welfare.• Prescriptive

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-90857863669066045922010-07-06T19:48:00.000-07:002010-12-24T17:30:59.341-08:00

Dissatisfied with the referenda verdict of the Australian people in 1974 and 1988, local governments are waging yet another campaign for local government recognition in the Australian constitution.In their latest salvo, councils and shires convened a summit last year to develop a constitutional change model. The model not only entails recognition of local governments, but includes a suggested

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-83211671402884987652010-06-28T17:53:00.000-07:002010-06-28T18:32:42.450-07:00

A reproduction of a post on my former "Political Economist" blog:The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same. This is not only true in the cases of life, death and taxes, but also for happiness research.Since the economist Richard Easterlin referred to a 'happiness paradox' in 1974, economic researchers in the field of happiness have typically insisted that, if money doesn't buy

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-5235354556602591392010-06-06T19:46:00.000-07:002010-06-06T20:36:32.727-07:00

The economic narrative about the efficacy of fiscal stimulus in the Australian context is epitomised by a yawning gap between perception and reality.At the micro-level, it is clear that the composition of spending has been poorly designed and implemented from the perspective of enhancing market productivity. From the tragic housing insulation subsidy program and overinflated school halls to

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-52511875563710543722010-06-06T19:37:00.000-07:002010-06-06T19:45:09.867-07:00

One of the benefits of spending weekends away with a bunch of people from all walks of life, as I did last weekend, is that you get to hear a variety of perspectives about current affairs. Some of these perspectives are useful, while others are less than useful.On Sunday morning I heard some vociferous railing against that unloved poster-child of the month for the political left - Israel. In my

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-11220919122262166912010-05-26T16:56:00.000-07:002010-05-26T17:00:00.130-07:00

Below is an extended copy of a presentation I delivered to the 2008 Centre for Independent Studies Advanced Liberty and Society rountable on an Austrian economic perspective of feminist economics.IntroductionFeminist insights have been applied to a growing number of social sciences since the 1960s, such as anthropology, history, law, literature, philosophy, political science and sociology. By

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-67308069881887182282010-05-23T18:45:00.001-07:002010-05-23T23:00:49.358-07:00

I have been currently reading book by Wolfgang Sofsky entitled Privacy: A Manifesto.It serves as a powerful account of the need to protect privacy as a cornerstone of liberty and freedom, and how privacy is under constant threat from governments and other entities that gather and share our information like never before.Reading this book reminded me of a passage in A. J. P. Taylor's English

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-90964609880121171142010-05-20T18:41:00.000-07:002010-05-20T18:46:07.446-07:00

In The Australian newspaper it was reported that 200 people attended a debate-cum-love-in last month between former Liberal Prime Minister John Howard and ex Labor PM Bob Hawke.By all reports there was much mutual affection expressed between the two former leaders – for example, Howard labelled Hawke as the best Australian Labor Prime Minister.This remark probably says more about the policy

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-19915942764389994642010-04-20T19:57:00.000-07:002010-04-20T20:02:53.578-07:00

The following quote from an IPA Review article by Michael James in 1988, explains how fiscal rules are consistent with constitutional democracy:"the idea of a fiscal constitution faces tough opposition ... The first [ojection] is that the electoral process is a sufficient check on the growth of government; and that when public opinion wants public spending to be reduced, it will be. The weakness

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-33404182442036128562010-04-15T11:12:00.000-07:002010-04-15T11:23:27.497-07:00

With the Rudd federal government looking to strong-arm the states into giving it 30 per cent of GST revenues to bankroll a reconfiguration of public hospitals, talk of alternative possibilities for the Australian health system is rife in health circles.Last month on his health ‘national tour’ stopover to the bustling town of Queanbeyan, NSW, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was himself strong-armed by a

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-69356553798303302592010-01-14T14:06:00.000-08:002010-01-14T14:25:35.171-08:00

Late last year, amidst the global celebrations commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, an international survey of attitudes towards capitalism was released.The survey of 29,033 people across 27 countries (including Australia), conducted by GlobeScan/PIPA for the BBC, found that 54 per cent of respondents felt that the overall breakup of the Soviet Union was a

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-51669772983753314772010-01-12T15:46:00.000-08:002010-01-12T16:46:07.237-08:00

In today's edition of The Age newspaper, columnist, former Liberal Party advisor and friend Terry Barnes writes about the risks of Australian consumerism.In his piece, Barnes argues that existing levels of household sector debt are growing in an unsustainable fashion with some of the loan finances devoted to consumption of larger houses (the so-called "McMansions"). To rid ourselves of our

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-15183176023113917152010-01-11T23:41:00.000-08:002010-01-12T00:01:43.891-08:00

Prior to the celebrations marking the advent of 2010, the IPA released the latest edition of its annual state business tax benchmarking results (see background paper and fact sheets).The state business tax league table result for 2009 is above, showing that South Australia imposes the highest overall business tax liability of the six states. By contrast, and for the second year in a row, Western

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-78909448704578338142009-12-12T11:43:00.000-08:002009-12-12T12:03:24.138-08:00

I have an opinion piece on the Online Opinion website (see here) on some of the key tax policy issues expected to emanate from the Henry federal-state-local tax review.The title for the piece was inspired by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, finance minister to the French "sun king" Louis XIV, who once stated that: "The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to get the most feathers with the

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-163516209429999822009-12-12T11:28:00.000-08:002009-12-12T11:43:29.593-08:00

In recent weeks something of a tax revolt transpired in the island state of Tasmania over significant increases in land tax liabilities. News of assessed land tax liabilities jumping up to 1,000 per cent in some cases, and that thousands of businesses and individuals liable to the tax were making formal appeals to the State Revenue Office over their liability, has highlighted the financial pain

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-63165204515107111212009-11-16T15:14:00.000-08:002009-11-16T15:39:16.079-08:00

The American economic historian and all-round champion of free markets, Deirdre McCloskey, has written a follow-up volume to her 2006 masterpiece The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce (no less an authority in economics, Peter Boettke, said this about The Bourgeois Virtues: "Deirdre McCloskey has written what must be acclaimed as the most ambitious book in political economy

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-39646706347372057482009-11-15T16:32:00.000-08:002009-11-15T17:02:05.107-08:00

Appreciation of the benefits of federalism in the Australian context seems arguably to be at its lowest ebb. It is against this background of public opinion that the federal-state tax review, chaired by commonwealth treasury secretary Ken Henry, is being prepared.Reading the "tea leaves" of Henry's public speeches, it looks as if the final review report will recommend en masse additions to

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-49698242604688676482009-10-24T16:36:00.000-07:002009-10-24T16:58:29.237-07:00

Last week the IPA released a research paper (see here) outlining trends in state and territory government employment. The paper received good coverage in The Australian newspaper, including an opinion piece summarising the research (see here).One of the key issues raised by this research relates to the ability of governments to contain public service wage costs with regard to the economic

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-26802139037154597352009-10-13T16:21:00.000-07:002009-10-13T16:29:58.561-07:00

I have an opinion piece in today's edition of The Courier Mail (see a copy here) on the futility of the Rudd government's "make-work" stimulus programs.A figure that Keynes, and Rudd, have presumably overlooked is the French classical liberal, Frederic Bastiat, who outlined the "broken windows" theory. A variation of Bastiat's classic story is relevant here: government cannot create economic

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-26687926062260235422009-10-06T22:19:00.000-07:002009-10-06T22:37:14.141-07:00

Earlier this week an opinion piece of mine was published in The Age (Business). An electronic copy can be found here.I look at two options canvassed to increase employment: (a) government expenditure to increase aggregate demand and thereby increase jobs; and (b) a scheme proposed by Australian post-Keynesian economist Bill Mitchell to have government act as a "buffer employer" for workers unable

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-22752328060332241912009-09-24T17:11:00.000-07:002009-09-24T17:25:26.689-07:00

This week in The Courier Mail I had an opinion piece on the limitations of fiscal stimulus (see here).In this piece I use a hypothetical example to explain that (a) government spending must be financed by taxes or borrowing (future taxes), with distortions to the economy that entails; and (b) government spending is more likely to fund unproductive purposes (whoever thought that pink batts were

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-14871003723589536622009-09-17T18:34:00.000-07:002009-09-17T18:59:08.474-07:00

... taxpayers will lose out.In today's edition of The Australian Financial Review, it is reported that demographic forecasts by federal treasury have been revised to account for a larger population comprised of more young people.This will lead Treasurer Wayne Swan to warn in a speech today that a larger and younger nation, fuelled by higher birth and immigration rates, will put pressure on the

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-47065195440105065082009-09-06T19:40:00.000-07:002009-09-06T19:51:43.901-07:00

In today's edition of The Courier Mail, I have an opinion piece (see here) on the final report of the Rudd government-appointed National Preventative Health Taskforce.I argue against the implementation of the measures proposed by the Taskforce on the bases that:(a) they lay the grounds for additional, "slippery slope" interventions by government if the proposals fail to achieve their avowed

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-42133968305024058872009-08-22T20:36:00.001-07:002009-08-22T22:40:07.516-07:00

The public reaction to my opinion piece, published in The Australian, last week on "nudgonomics" has been quite interesting to say the least.Of some surprise to me has been the amount of correspondence received - the most I have received across the range of issues I have researched whilst at the IPA to date (even exceeding the big issue of vouchers).The overwhelmingly favourable response to what

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-89852571627372029172009-08-17T20:04:00.000-07:002009-08-17T23:42:15.275-07:00

In today's edition of The Australian, I have an opinion piece on one of the latest crazes in the public policy discourse labelled "nudge economics."While I don't doubt that some of the analytical findings of nudgonomics, revealing individual behaviour that don't fit the straightjacketed neoclassical paradigm of action, are of some use, I question the seemingly reflexive response by policymakers (

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-43546924997717657972009-08-14T18:27:00.000-07:002009-08-14T18:35:01.145-07:00

Over at excellent The Austrian Economists' blog, reference is given to an interview by Lawrence (Larry) Reed, president of the US-based Foundation for Economic Education.During the interview, Reed states some basic freedom principles that are in danger of being forgotten:Government can provide you with absolutely nothing except that which it has taken from somebody else.A government big enough to

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-73737137853559542042009-08-04T22:31:00.000-07:002009-08-04T22:55:32.646-07:00

In today's edition of the ABC Unleashed website, I have a piece on the latest scandals gripping the Bligh government in Queensland (see here).I note that there are a range of alternative ideas to weaken the spectre of corruption in that state. One is to embark on change within the existing institutional framework of the Queensland polity. This is what Premier Bligh is doing, by banning

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-38240748155105487502009-07-29T22:33:00.000-07:002009-07-29T22:57:19.596-07:00

If, like Ross Gittins, you forced yourself (in whole or in part) to read Kevin Rudd's recent 6,000-word essay on the economy you may've reacted in three ways: (a) your eyes glazed over 50 words in, and so you went on to read something else; (b) swallowed the PM's sweeping tale of economic destruction and government salvation, hook line and sinker; or (c) do what Sinclair Davidson and I did, and

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-19185039672332454292009-07-29T16:33:00.000-07:002009-07-29T16:44:41.625-07:00

In early June, I wrote an opinion piece urging governments to establish budget accountability websites to allow the average citizen to track how their tax dollars are being spent.I recited a number of examples where American state governments have embraced the "google government" transparency agenda - for example, Missouri has a neat site (go to my op-ed for a link) that goes right down to the

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-3104796946157275012009-07-28T18:11:00.000-07:002009-07-28T19:34:18.026-07:00

One of Australia's leading classical liberal intellects and my friend, Andrew Norton, critiques (here and here) my recent work on a federal-state school education voucher scheme (discussed in this paper) on cost grounds.Before getting into the nitty-gritty of costs, I'd like to make a few initial clarificatory points about the work:(a) I cost a family of federal-state vouchers, including targeted

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-43754242085964592282009-07-20T16:38:00.000-07:002009-07-20T16:56:43.451-07:00

The Rudd government has talked the talk about an "education revolution," but judging by its bungles regarding computers-in-schools and the school infrastructure stimulus it is not walking the walk thus far.More systemic problems characterise the Australian education landscape, with many references made in recent years to our "long tail" of educational disadvantage.To help tackle entrenched

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-36171804980706088152009-07-18T17:56:00.000-07:002009-07-18T19:07:40.866-07:00

"[The First Amendment] ought to read, "Congress shall make no law authorizing government to take any discriminatory measures of coercion." I think that would make all the other rights unnecessary"(F. A. Hayek, 28/10/78, in a videotaped interview with James M. Buchanan; quoted in Buchanan and Congleton "Politics by Principle, Not Interest: Towards Nondiscriminatory Democracy")In the lead-up to the

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-39091388276958830772009-07-16T20:04:00.000-07:002009-07-16T20:45:22.116-07:00

In today's Wall Street Journal, Joseph Epstein writes in praise of that economically-nimble, employment-generating crowd known as small business owners.In it, he writes "considerable courage and perseverance are required to start and keep a good shop running. Especially is this so today, when real estate rental is expensive, taxes on profits are high, and the prospect of being clobbered by a

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-41816573552899935302009-07-15T18:09:00.000-07:002009-07-15T18:20:26.180-07:00

With the first of the "baby boom" generation having already reached retirement age, the fiscal consequences of structural population ageing is upon us.The way in which policymakers respond to this demographic trend will critically determine whether it presents a fiscal challenge or otherwise.In the Hobart Mercury, I had an opinion piece on this issue as part of a two-page spread on Tasmania's "

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-50732380817025685292009-07-09T17:53:00.000-07:002009-07-09T18:15:59.384-07:00

I have an opinion piece in today's edition of The Age on the 2009 federal minimum wage decision by the Fair Pay Commission.I argue that the decision ensures that labour is not priced out of the market due to wage-setting regulation, therefore giving workers the best possible fighting chance to retain their jobs in a tough economic climate.

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-11010404698679210102009-07-08T18:27:00.001-07:002009-07-08T18:42:07.635-07:00

The debate we need to have about stronger fiscal rules has begun.Earlier this year I wrote an IPA Occasional Paper that advocated state government financial reform including a balanced budget rule, plus a stipulation fixing revenue growth to that of a state economy minus a factor of x (the Davidson-Novak rule).In today's Canberra Times, I have an opinion piece on similar principles that should

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-68288014801146760202009-07-06T17:32:00.001-07:002009-07-06T17:40:15.288-07:00

Late last week I had an opinion piece on the ABC News Online website (see here) on the legislative fiasco surrounding the public reporting of school-level academic results in New South Wales.The Rees government is proposing to reintroduce the schools reporting legislation in NSW Parliament, in what must be a very rare opportunity for them to try to wedge the state's opposition parties on this

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-20477097111099102922009-06-25T03:48:00.000-07:002009-06-25T04:06:32.996-07:00

In the midst of almost deafening, shrill advice given to governments to "go early, go hard and go household," there remain a reservoir of economic scholars sensibly counselling policymakers to recall the basics of economic theory.Peter Boettke of the George Mason University, United States, is one of the more important figures amongst the sensible bunch. A new working paper (co-authored with

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-26021839507899145092009-06-24T20:53:00.000-07:002009-06-25T23:30:17.930-07:00

I read with a great degree of surprise, if not some concern, that a recent Galaxy poll states that a majority (fifty-six per cent) of surveyed Queenslanders want to see their state government mothballed. Think of it as an extension of the closure of the Legislative Council in the 1920s, this time with the Legislative Assembly added to the dustbin of history. So much for the happy 150th birthday!

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-55643718590910451622009-06-24T16:18:00.001-07:002009-06-24T16:32:02.517-07:00

In recent days I have been reading the bestselling book, The Forgotten Man, by economic historian Amity Shlaes. It is certainly one of the best tracts I have read in a long while, providing a detailed account of the events surrounding the Great Depression, through the lives of the famous, infamous and not-so-famous.As I read through this book, the more I realise that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-14020451118051688132009-06-19T07:17:00.000-07:002009-06-19T07:21:04.994-07:00

Last year I delivered a presentation to a Menzies Research Centre conference on federalism. The paper from which the presentation was drawn is now available here.

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-40104575932513051472009-06-17T22:02:00.000-07:002009-06-17T22:05:51.813-07:00

I have an opinion piece in today's Courier Mail about the 2009-10 Queensland state budget. It refers to the extent that Queensland has degenerated from being a budgetary leader - founded on a trilogy of low taxes, budget surpluses and low public debt - to the fiscal sick man of Australia.

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-16867524734830083532009-06-17T21:23:00.000-07:002009-06-17T22:02:18.938-07:00

I have an opinion piece published in today's ABC News Online edition about the Rudd government's infrastructure stimulus programs. I call into question the efficacy of the big spending from employment, economic growth and productivity perspectives.

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825929634352654938.post-22931802878331901532009-06-12T20:20:00.000-07:002009-06-12T20:38:52.234-07:00

When a government is recklessly throwing about taxpayers' money on all sorts of unproductive expenditures, it is vital to have watchdogs that can sound out the alarm when the conceptual basis and implementation of what government plans to do goes astray.One of the most important watchdogs in our liberal-democractic society is a free press. The Australian newspaper, for example, has been keeping

Julie Novakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10592767711371778702noreply@blogger.com