Category Archives: Uncategorized

Hidden Unpersuaders: How we mistook the digital giants for all-powerful manipulators

Posted on January 4, 2022 by David Walker

The twin threats of “hidden persuasion” and artificial intelligence have now convinced most of us that Google and its ilk are almost uniquely powerful. These threats are overrated. The digital giants can do less than we fear – and we … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Critique, Economics and public policy, Information, IT and Internet, Media, regulation, Society, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Standards Part Two: Comparative Standards

Posted on November 27, 2021 by Nicholas Gruen

Standards: continued from Part One. I. Introduction Why is this man smiling? He’s smiling because he is Charles Francis Richter and he came up with the Richter scale. And if you have come up with the Richter scale, every time … Continue reading →

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The Melbourne Suburban Rail Loop’s fragile business case shows governments need an Evaluator-General

Posted on November 24, 2021 by David Walker

We have a broken process for evaluating costly government investments. The evolving plan for an underground railway through Melbourne’s middle suburbs reminds us that we need something better. The Victoria government is currently in the early stages of building what … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Michael Polanyi, Karl Popper and the philosophy of science (with an eye to blockchain)

Posted on October 9, 2021 by Nicholas Gruen

I’ve been working on a joint paper with someone else about blockchain. One way the paper might develop would be to argue that the discussion of DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) using blockchain technology should now be cognisant of the chasm … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

A letter to Scandinavia

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Paul Frijters

Dear Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland (Scandinavia), First off, thank you for the last 18 months. Almost alone in ‘the West’, you have either avoided covid madness completely (Sweden) or at least regained your sanity more quickly (the rest). … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 42 Comments

Time to Dissent

Posted on August 8, 2021 by Chris Lloyd

I have been fully vaccinated. I wear a mask. I believe that lockdowns drove the number of infections in Melbourne to zero. I scan the QR code whenever I have the chance. When I go to the supermarket, it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 55 Comments

What is managed care and can it help fix the Australian private health sector?

Posted on July 15, 2021 by Luke Slawomirski

This is an edited version of a piece published in Crikey on 2 July 2021.  It looks like Australian health funds will get more say in how care is delivered in the future if the ACCC’s draft decision giving health fund Nib … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment