The high price of Australia's policy shortcuts
As Australia grapples with declining productivity and mounting economic challenges, the government continues to favour gimmicks over crucial reforms to housing, regulation and fiscal policy.
Topic
Productivity
A collection of 5 issues
Lessons from the Old Country
As Britain grapples with institutional decay and economic stagnation, Australia must learn from its mistakes—especially in housing, infrastructure, and energy—before we face the same fate.
What's up with Canada?
Despite its proximity to the US and abundant natural resources, Canada's economy is hampered by inter-provincial trade barriers, powerful domestic cartels, and declining productivity, leaving it vulnerable to global trade tensions.
The Kiwi in the coal mine
New Zealand's economy is in trouble, with a double-dip recession and shrinking per capita growth. The decline stems from a lack of productivity reforms and an excessive focus on equity over efficiency. But Australia isn't much better, and we could easily join them if policymakers get complacent.
What Australia's per capita recession really means
Australia's national accounts were released last week and confirmed that our per capita recession – defined as two consecutive quarterly contractions – didn't just continue into the December quarter, but deepened: on a per person basis, our economy is now a full 1% smaller than where it was