Author Archives: Tony Harris

The Audit Office, ‘Pink Batts’, Venality and Perfidy

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Tony Harris

Tony Harris’s AFR column from a few weeks ago. (posted by Nicholas G on Tony’s account.) The Australian National Audit Office last week reported on the government’s abandoned ceiling insulation stimulus program. It found that the environment department should have … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Economics and public policy, Politics - national | 4 Comments

Thoughts on the election

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Tony Harris

From today’s Fin: “He [Tony Abbott] has undermined and potentially destroyed a first-term Labor government.” This eulogy to Abbott from former prime minister, John Howard, captures all that is bad about the coalition’s approach to opposition. Oppositions do not have … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, Politics - national | 11 Comments

Warwick McKibbin’s comments on fiscal policy

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Tony Harris

From my recent Fin Column. Recent articles in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age – sister publications of the AFR – told us that Warwick McKibbin has concerns about the Labor government’s stimulus programs. As those newspapers say, McKibbin … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy | 32 Comments

Samuelson’s Progress 1948 – 1995

Posted on December 17, 2009 by Tony Harris

This is a survey of the treatment of selected themes in the famous textbook from the first edition in 1948 to the last in 1995. The sales figures:

Posted in Economics and public policy, Education | Leave a comment

Paul Samuelson 1915-2009

Posted on December 15, 2009 by Tony Harris

How will Paul Samuelson be remembered? This is the positive side of the story, the glowing record of  the Nobel Laureate and author of the most widely read textbook in modern times. History may be kind to Samuelson. He had the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, History, Political theory, Terror, Uncategorised | 11 Comments

Shaking and Stirring, the basket weavers strike back

Posted on December 8, 2009 by Tony Harris

Balmain is not  just the city of basket weavers it is also a place to find thinking drinkers and binge thinkers. Put this in your list of favorites. Shaken and Stirred, the brainchild of Parnell McGuinness and Leonie Phillips, is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, Education, Food, Life, Sport - Rugby League, Terror | 1 Comment

How the poor are doing better in the US

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Tony Harris

Steve Horwitz at The Austrian Economists is running a series of posts to show how the poor in the US have become better off over the last thirty years or so. This table shows how real wages have improved to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, Society | 17 Comments