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Articles on Efficiency

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Left turns are dangerous and cause a lot of unnecessary traffic. Chris Jongkind/Moment via Getty Images

Sick of dangerous city traffic? Remove left turns

Left turns are dangerous and slow down traffic. One solution? Get rid of them. New research shows that limiting left turns at busy intersections would improve safety and reduce frustrating backups.
The Ontario government tabled legislation Dec.6 which would increase the number of young children who can be cared for at once by home child care providers. The proposed legislation is as part of larger reform measures introduced under the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act that the province says will cut red tape for businesses. Shutterstock

The Ontario government’s plan to loosen child-care rules is dangerous

Low-income, less-educated parents with non-standard work schedules rely most on home child-care providers whose rules would be relaxed under proposed legislation.
Modern life seems to encourage acceleration for the sake of acceleration – to what end? JoeyCheung/Shutterstock.com

In praise of doing nothing

Technology has made many aspects of daily life much easier. So why do we still feel so overwhelmed?
Australian banks improved their efficiency after the introduction in 2003 of the ASX Principles of Good Corporate Governance, which aimed for improved governance mechanisms and thus better control over bank management. AAP Image/Paul Miller

Good corporate governance is good for banks’ bottom line

Good corporate governance is good for efficiency and profit in banks. But having independent board members and the number of board meetings don’t play a role, research shows.
Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh has said the GST is as inefficient but less equitable than income tax. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

FactCheck: is the GST as efficient but less equitable than income tax?

The Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Andrew Leigh, has said the the Government’s latest tax discussion paper says the GST is as inefficient as income tax, adding he thinks it’s less equitable. Is that right?
In the 27 years since the Hawke government came up with a public service efficiency dividend, the evidence has mounted against it. National Archives of Australia

Getting more bang for public bucks: is the ‘efficiency dividend’ efficient?

Every now and again in public policy debates a consensus emerges on some particular point among policymakers, stakeholders and commentators. These moments are distressingly rare. It is even more distressing…
Mind the gap: health services in trouble if we continue to expect too much. PA/Carl Court

Developed world can’t have it all or health will hit the buffers

Health services are under constant scrutiny and rarely out of the news. But discussions about how and even whether they can continue are likely to exercise the whole developed world in the near future…
Perpetually seduced by the coolest, most “efficient” conveniences, we prefer not to see the heat and waste we leave in our wake. AAP/EPA/STR

Our bloated cult of efficiency: doing the wrong thing right

The idea that improving efficiency makes sustainability problems worse seems counter-intuitive. But what if aiming to do more with less is actually doing the wrong thing right? If sustainability is our…

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