Category Archives: Political theory

How to tax the platform economy?

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Paul Frijters

In the engine room of nation states, ie the tax departments, the coming battle with platform providers is taking shape. Uber, airbnb, facebook, linkedin, ebay, jobseek, and a myriad of specialised platform providers facilitate micro-trades that are largely untaxed by … Continue reading →

Posted in Death and taxes, Economics and public policy, Employment, Information, Innovation, Intellectual Monopoly Privileges, Intellectual Property, IT and Internet, Law, Political theory, Politics - international, Politics - national, Public and Private Goods, regulation, Social | 20 Comments

Getting the right decision democratically – by John Burnheim

Posted on January 26, 2018 by Nicholas Gruen

In many areas of policy, particularly where relatively homogeneous communities deliberate about matters within their everyday experience, the informal processes of discussion in the community can, and often do, lead to changes in public opinion that in turn lead to … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Philosophy, Political theory | 6 Comments

The poverty of voting

Posted on January 21, 2018 by Nicholas Gruen

A post by John Burnheim. About ten months ago, John Burnheim wrote to me in terms I’ve reproduced on this blog previously. John was one of the early movers in academia exploring the limitations of electoral democracy with his book Is Democracy Possible … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Information, Philosophy, Political theory | 16 Comments

Evidence-based policy: why is progress so slow and what can be done about it

Posted on December 19, 2017 by Nicholas Gruen

Here’s a presentation I gave at the anniversary of Australian Policy Online which has been cunningly rebranded under its old acronym as Analysis and Policy Observatory.  I gave a similar one at Kings College London a few weeks previously. Note that some of … Continue reading →

Posted in Bullshit, Cultural Critique, Economics and public policy, Philosophy, Political theory, regulation | 12 Comments

Could more “plebisurveys” restore public confidence in Australian democracy?

Posted on December 10, 2017 by Ken Parish

The extraordinary outpouring of national happiness following the passage of the same sex marriage legislation on Thursday unavoidably gives rise to the question of whether some similar community consultation/plebiscite/survey mechanism (perhaps a well-designed and secure online survey mechanism rather than … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, Political theory, Politics - national | 15 Comments

Is the end of Brexit nigh?

Posted on December 8, 2017 by Paul Frijters

The EU and the UK government have just agreed to muddle on in their negotiations. Nothing is truly decided until everything is decided, but they have adopted a position document (see here) that details what they want the next steps … Continue reading →

Posted in bubble, Democracy, Economics and public policy, History, Political theory, Politics - international, Society | 13 Comments

Why Blockchain has no economic future.

Posted on November 13, 2017 by Paul Frijters

[expanded from the post on JohnMenadue] When Bitcoin went public in 2009 it introduced to the world of finance and economics the technology of blockchain. Even the many who thought Bitcoin would never make it as a major currency were … Continue reading →

Posted in bubble, Business, Climate Change, History, Information, Innovation, IT and Internet, Political theory, Politics - national, Science, Social Policy | 12 Comments