The first of what may be quite a few articles I reproduce here which I wrote for The Mandarin from around 2016 to 2020 or thereabouts ( The Mandarin has put the articles I wrote for them behind its paywall so when people need them online, I reproduce them here). Picture: Getty...
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Why did it happen? I think that the combination of four factors (listed below) was close to a sufficient cause. Sufficient at least to make a terrorist attack highly likely . And they are also arguably necessary. I think if you remove any one the first three then Bondi does no...
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Is there anyone at home? Is the chess program on your phone conscious? Is ChatGPT5 a conscious agent? Will ChatGPT9 be conscious? Most people would answer "no" to the first question, "don’t think so" to the second and “don’t know” to the last. I think it is more likely that th...
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The latest figures on intimate partner femicide show much of a recent rise in men killing women has now been reversed, at least temporarily. Prologue : Violence against women is a bad thing, and it’s still bad even when, as the article below points out, it used to be far worse...
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[caption id="attachment_36320" align="alignleft" width="1031"] Why does this graph capture the idea of the Evaluator General? All is revealed in this post .[/caption] Luke Slawomirski, a health economist I met at the OECD over a decade ago when I proposed Gruen Tenders among o...
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Share this video! Please! Well, the time has come folks. On Thursday I’ll be launching a video series that’s been over two years in the making. I could have written a book, but I made 20 short videos instead. Conner Bethune, pictured above, watched the series through and rang...
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This piece began as a lengthy comment responding to Ken Parish’s post on my proposal for a third ‘people’s chamber’ chosen by lottery. I posted it on Substack a few weeks ago, but thought it might be a worthwhile post here. I don’t support citizens’ juries as some kind of ‘hac...
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No-one really knows the most cost-effective treatments for mental ill-health. But among the most promising options right now: take the dog for a walk. Illustration: A cost-effective mental resource takes a break from promoting healthy exercise and lifting spirits ... Meet Otis...
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You might have seen the picture above. It’s the Tacoma Narrows bridge which collapsed a few weeks after being built. Why? Well what you can see here is the perturbations from the wind being amplified by the suspension system on the bridge - in the way that feedback amplifies w...
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[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="457"] "Revolution Forever" mural in Cienfuegos, Cuba. Photo by Guille Álvarez on Unsplash[/caption] I remember the shock of recognition I got reading liberal Raymond Aron’s critique of Hayek’s The Constitution of Liberty . The ideal of a...
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I am about to break my indication that I am unlikely to post again until after Jen's death. I am bored to death in this Regis joint filled with old codgers with assorted disabilities. How many I will write is another question. I have been thinking about Nicholas Gruen's sortit...
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Troppo readers may be wondering why I haven’t been blogging lately, after making a comeback several months ago after a long absence. The reason is that my wife Jen is in hospital dying from ovarian cancer. It’s very distressing, both for me and our daughter Jessica (not to men...
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This is becoming a series. The point is that public figures now routinely refuse to engage with counter-arguments. I have another one not yet written about Nobel Laureate Brian Schmidt who did not respond to three polite emails from me. The latest intellectual coward is Liz Al...
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I posted something similar on Facebook a few days back, and thought I might get some useful feedback here. Iran is criticised for violating their obligations under the NNPT. But the NNPT was signed by The Shah, who was a US puppet deposed in 1979. I do not think this obliges t...
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Ian Leslie has released what looks to be a fascinating book about the Beatles and more specifically the relationship between Lennon and McCartney. I thought that I too might as well get in on the act and talk about the Beatles story and why it is so remarkable, mysterious and...
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I try to replicate my more substantial posts on Substack here, but forgot this from a few weeks ago. So I'm now making amends. When it comes to Magna Carta clause 39 is the one hanging in the foyer. No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or posses...
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Psychology Professor Michael Inzlicht has a confession to make . He’s been peddling shoddy wares – his words. And he's feeling quite bad about the whole thing. The work wasn’t just intellectually weak. It did real harm. Though his own proposals to popularise his ideas were kno...
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I came upon this explanation for millennials’ lack of a work ethic. I don’t want this to seem censorious of millennials. In fact I have no such complaint about millennials - but if my comments seem a little censorious of the (presumably millennial) author, I guess I’ll have to...
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Most credible researchers believe immigration affects house prices. The questions are: how much, and at what cost? This post aims to establish some baseline facts on the basis of which sensible arguments can be made about immigration and housing. Key points: Academic research...
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Advice for homebuyers and citizens: home-deductibility and housing guarantee schemes both deserve your derisive laughter, whoever backs them. Introductory note: Things move fast in the race to sway the aspiring Australian homebuyer. A few minutes after publishing the first ver...
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Donald Trump is still trying to slash his nation's trade deficit. Australians may recognise this task: we tackled it in the late 1980s, failed, and found that it mattered less than we thought. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7st2oG5AwU?si=7N7nfVCxlmkOcf7D] Video: Don...
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This article deals with Federal Coalition Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s election promise to force gas producers to reduce the price of gas for Australian consumers to $10 per gigajoule. However, according to a debate on last night Q &A between Labor Climate Change Minister...
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There was an ostensible “news” article on the ABC news site about Trump’s executive order (EO) titled “DEFENDING WOMEN FROM GENDER IDEOLOGY EXTREMISM AND RESTORING BIOLOGICAL TRUTH TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.” The capitalisation is not mine; it is in the executive order FFS! Th...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW_IPF2GSpw As part of a new policy, I'm going to post stuff I've published on my substack here where it's substantial enough, or where I want to be able to link to it without the distraction of all the other stuff I pack into my weekly substack...
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In the pretty likely event of a hung parliament after the next Australian election, the cross-bench becomes kingmaker. I’m hoping — and expecting — the crossbench to seek greater use of citizen assemblies in governing Australia. But what comes next is crucial. Some think it wo...
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