Tomorrow, there is a book launch of ' An Economic Theory of Greed, Love, Groups, and Networks ' at UNSW, hosted by Professor Chris Styles, Director of the Australian Graduate School of Business. It starts at 6pm and is in the JBR Theatre (AGSM building) of the Kensington Campu...

Continue reading →

Two years ago, I wrote a Troppo post on Coles' decision to sell milk for a dollar a litre . I took particular aim at the claim by consumer group Choice that regulators should investigate whether Coles is engaged in predatory pricing . Said Choice: “It is difficult to see why a...

Continue reading →

It's always been hard to pin down who 'the elites' are why we are supposed reject them as un-Australian. A new book review by Tony Abbott offers some clues. It also hints at why attacks on 'the elites' are likely to backfire for conservatives. In the Spectator Australia , Abbo...

Continue reading →

I've been in San Francisco for over a week now and have been living near Haight Ashbury which I've only driven through previously. In any event I looked it up in Wikipedia and 1967's Summer of Love was quite a production with 100,000 odd people turning up and living from hand...

Continue reading →

(Cross-posted at shorewalker.com ) I like trains. For a while when I was a kid, I spent Saturdays clambering around Adelaide's Mile End Railway Museum and most of my pocket money buying items for an elaborate train set. Which may explain how I found myself today reading KPMG's...

Continue reading →

In 1989, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) was created with the hope of creating a local competitor to the University of Queensland. The resources given to it by the community have been immense, with real estate and subsidies worth many billions. With its prime locatio...

Continue reading →

Imagine yourself to be in the mythical Land of Beyond where you need minions to do a dirty job that men with honour would refuse to do. A classic trick in this situation is to pick people despised by the rest of society who are thus dependent on protection and will simply do w...

Continue reading →

In the terms of reference to the recent study into the non-viability of high-speed rail from Brisbane to Melbourne it is promised that “It will draw on expertise from the public and private sectors”. So, who did this study that concluded that Australia would need 50 years and...

Continue reading →

The mythology is that Thatcher came, saw, and conquered. Her enemies credit her with destroying the public sector by privatizations. Her friends credit her with the same, but also say she championed frugal spending and was fierce when it came to British independence. She suppo...

Continue reading →

During the mid 1970s Thatcher was listening to a member of the Conservative Research Department staff explain why the party should take a pragmatic 'middle way ' between left and right. But before he could finish Thatcher reached into her briefcase and pulled out a copy of Fri...

Continue reading →

See below for how my co-author Gigi Foster has been explaining key facets of our joint book to Tim Harcourt in anticipation of launches in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. Enjoy! [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk7eac53oG4]

Continue reading →

"Hostility towards benefit claimants is founded upon a moral instinct", says Chris Dillow . The instinct is the norm of reciprocity. According to this norm, people are entitled to the community's help when they need it, but must also contribute in return. According to Dillow,...

Continue reading →

From its beginnings 70 years ago, the Institute of Public Affairs has struggled against class war. According to a 1948 issue of the IPA Review , the post war period saw a "revolutionary change" in the distribution of income: "The lower incomes are now enjoying a much larger sh...

Continue reading →

The US Fed is printing money to get the US out of a recession. The ECB is also printing money, with the same target in mind. In limited amounts, this is a good idea, but the central banks are going about it the wrong way: they are essentially printing money for banks and polit...

Continue reading →

Let us pretend you are the benevolent elected dictator in Australia. It is 1980 and you have to decide on education and migration policy. Your wily political adviser comes to you with the following plan: he tells you it would be popular and cheap to stop inflicting difficult a...

Continue reading →