Billions of taxpayer dollars are committed before all the evidence for, and against, infrastructure projects is in. As well as missing business cases, basic rules of economic modelling are broken.
The job market is still tough for many Americans.
AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
A recent study was reported as saying a sugar tax would have us drinking more alcohol. But the study didn't establish this fact. The results were mixed with no evidence one thing caused another.
People don’t evaluate government policies through mathematical models or with long-term goals in mind.
AAP/ Glenn Hunt
Treasury modelling suggests that limiting negative gearing will lead to small change in prices. But behavioural economics shows it all depends on how the policy is framed.
Still no clear skies for the federal government’s energy plans.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
As federal and state energy ministers gather to discuss the Turnbull government's proposed National Energy Guarantee, many of the finer details of the modelling are not yet available.
Modelling shows the NBN needs subsidies to have the most impact.
AAP
Almost half of eligible households haven't connected to the NBN. New modelling shows the NBN needs subsidies if we want more people to connect and the economy to benefit from it.
Economic models suggest that South Africa's GDP would fall, inequality would deepen and unemployment would rise if university graduates don't enter the labour market in 2017.
Economics struggles to explain the explosion of gift models at the heart of our online economy.
The report found that Sydney households face the highest transport costs of any city in Australia both in dollar terms and as a percentage of household income.
AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts
The Australian Automobile Association said that a new report showed that "the average Australian family is spending up to $22,000 every year to get around." Is that accurate?
Protecting the Great Barrier Reef’s water quality finally has a hard dollar price on it.
AAP Image
A groundbreaking new economic study has found that investing A$8.2 billion would get us very close to hitting targets to cut water pollution into the Great Barrier Reef by 2025.
Good economic modelling does not overly simplify the world.
Image sourced from www.shutterstock.com
At the end of this month Australia’s Productivity Commission will issue the final report of its inquiry into Early Childhood Education and Care. The inquiry was limited from the outset by the requirement…
Clouding the issue: the latest analysis of the impact of the Renewable Energy Target contradicts previous reports.
Bo-deh/Wikimedia Commons
The review of the Renewable Energy Target is due to be handed to the federal government any day now, yet amazingly there are still conflicts over whether the policy makes electricity more or less expensive…
Economic modelling predicts that Germany is the most likely country to qualify for the semi-finals at the 2014 World Cup.
EPA/Andreas Gebert
Forget Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Mario Balotelli. What will make your country more (or less) likely to succeed in the World Cup is its rate of economic growth. At this point, I expect European…
Can British shores really attract more people than the Great Barrier Reef?
USFWS Pacific
What has nature ever done for us? This is what leading environmentalist Tony Juniper asks in his latest book. He wants us to account for the “ecosystem services” that nature freely provides in order to…
The lack of transparency for the economic modelling of the Galilee Coal Project means the public must rely on the word of Waratah Coal.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Clive Palmer’s Waratah Coal claims its Galilee Coal Project, which will create four underground mines, two open-cut mines, and 468 kilometres of railway line in central Queensland, will bring economic…