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Articles on Economic policy

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The treasurer referred to the A$13 billion “zombie” measures the Senate has failed to pass as a “Senate tax”, in justifying the tax increases in this budget. Lukas Coch

Budget 2017: bank populism will be paid for by Australians

The budget was extraordinary in many ways. It is an abandonment of restraint on taxes by a liberal government. It is nakedly populist and it also acknowledges that government debt can be productive.
The global economy may be more fragile than at any time since the financial crisis, Malcolm Turnbull said today. AAP/Tracey Nearmy

The electorate has spoken, but Turnbull’s speech shows he hasn’t listened

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s first major post-election economic speech revealed not a hint of awareness that large swathes of the electorate had been unpersuaded by his major policy programs.
Hawkers sell goods on the streets of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. Imports of bottled water from South Africa have been banned. Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo

Lessons to be learnt from Zimbabwe’s blunt use of an import ban

The control of imported goods is a quick fix that doesn’t resolve fundamental economic problems. It must be accompanied by a policy focus on macroeconomic issues, labour and agriculture.
Tony Abbott can rest assured he has made a lasting contribution to Australia’s future. Lukas Coch/AAP

Tony Abbott’s great big budget legacy

Tony Abbott spent just shy of two years as Prime Minister, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t leave a lasting legacy.
Fixing South Africa’s perilous education system will involve building consensus – a time-consuming process. Reuters/Rogan Ward

Too many economic cooks add to South Africa’s policy uncertainty

South Africa’s government should put more effort into developing concrete strategies for dealing with the factors preventing the removal of the critical constraints on economic growth.
A view of Alexandra township, a slum overlooking the Sandton skyscrapers in Johannesburg. Addressing inequality has been a major challenge for South Africa. Reuters/Juda Ngwenya

Piketty’s contribution to unpacking inequality: timely and relevant

Will Thomas Piketty’s visit to South Africa trigger the rewriting of the country’s recent economic history? His analysis and ideas on how to address inequality are hard to ignore.
The main strategy of Modi’s economic advisers in the first year has been to treat the Indian economy as the proverbial elephant in the room. Xing Zhe CHINA OUT/EPA/AAP

No, India isn’t outpacing China, and other Modi myths

Mindful of the short attention span of voters, Modi’s economic advisers have been careful to avoid selling economic policy as the answer to India’s problems.
Australia’s GST is considered a regressive tax, so the idea of extending it to fresh food is considered unfair. A more detailed analysis reveals it’s not that simple. Charlotte90T/Flickr

Making the case for GST on fresh food

With the federal government’s review of taxation about to get underway, many are expecting Australia’s Goods and Services Tax to be up for change. In this GST series we take a closer look at the evidence…
How many Osbornes does it take to change an economic outlook? Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

If the economy is in good shape, why do wages keep falling?

An opinion poll taken in the wake of George Osborne’s Autumn statement reveals that just 27% of people think the British economy is in good shape. This was a decline compared to a survey taken just three…
From St Petersburg to Brisbane. The G20 leaders are expected to cover a lot of territory. Sergei Karpukhin/EPA/AAP

Success for the G20 Leaders’ Summit is …

Suppose that on the evening of November 16, the G20 leaders release a 25-page communique with hundreds of recommendations on global health, security, climate change, human rights etc. Would this be regarded…
Treasurer Joe Hockey plans to reignite the economic reform debate early next year, but will he tackle the bigger-picture changes many economists have called for? AAP Image/Lukas Coch

The economic crisis a complacent Australia has to have

In November 1990, then treasurer Paul Keating announced that Australia was in recession – and that it was “the recession we had to have”. Today, there are growing calls for serious, structural economic…

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