The way Australia taxes housing is manifestly unfair

Anthony Asher (University of NSW) describes in The Conversation the incoherent application of principles to housing provision and taxation in Australia.

Conditions in offshore detention centres are inhumane, degrading and pose life-threatening risks

Karen Zwi (University of NSW) and Nicholas Talley (University of Newcastle) explain in The Conversation the health ramifications of Australia's refugee policy and the disturbing litany of delays, poor judgement, ill-informed decisions and above all, the serious consequences of a detention system that neglects warnings and fails to heed clinical advice.

Company tax cut only advantages foreign investors!

Janine Dixon (Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University) writes in The Conversation that it’s easy to see why a company tax cut polarises opinion, as it generates clear winners and losers. Foreign investors will receive a windfall gain at the expense of Australian residents.

Editor's note: Finally, an economic modeller who understands how Australia's company tax system works! My only quibble is the analysis seems to ignore the effect of company tax on retained earnings and also double taxation agreements. Retained earnings complicate the imputation credit story. DTAs work a little bit like the imputation system, so foreign investors from most countries who pay their taxes will likely be worse off, similar to Australian investors. Foreign investors who avoid paying taxes through sophisticated offshore arrangements are the big winners from a company tax cut.

Welfare reform needs to be about improving well-being, not punishing the poor

Peter Whiteford (Australian National University) writes in The Conversation that some of the improvement in workforce participation may have been due to the impact of the benefit activation reforms, but it was also due to Australia’s experience of uninterrupted economic growth. And that is a prerequisite for successful activation strategies.

Budget explainer: the problem with measuring productivity

Gerard de Valence (University of Technology Sydney) explains in The Conversation that Government policies can support improved productivity, if they are well designed and implemented. However, many current policy settings were put in place when we had an industrial economy and are not really suited to the emerging post-industrial economy of the 21st century.

Does ASIC already have the powers of a royal commission into banking?

Anna Olijnyk (University of Adelaide) explains in The Conversation that, if the aim is to investigate and prosecute specific instances of suspected breaches, then ASIC is well equipped to do this on its own in a way that a royal commission could not. However, if the aim is to examine the industry and system as a whole, a royal commission would have broader scope to do this.

Three ways to build innovation into your organisation

Rob Livingstone (University of Technology Sydney) writes in The Conversation that organisations should stress test their business strategies, intrapreneurship and culture.

The Very Fast Train proposal

Peter Newton (Swinburne University of Technology) explains in The Conversation the previous proposal to build a Very Fast Train.

Editor note: Back in the 1990s the Howard Government called for VFT proposals and shortlisted four—the preferred proposal was for a tilt train. None of the proposals were economic in either cost or time—that is, a VFT would be slower and more expensive than air travel. The VFT would likely still be more expensive than air travel even if all of the infrastructure was written off once constructed.

Removing negative gearing on property would hurt low income renters

Ross Guest (Griffith University) explains in The Conversation that if we restricted the tax advantages of negative gearing we would dampen investor demand for housing which would slow house price growth in Sydney and everywhere else. But at what cost? It would be tougher to rent a property, hurting low income households. We need to be clear about what problem we are trying to fix and consider whether there are better ways of doing it.

Rural R&D Corporations provide a model for innovation

Elizabeth Webster (Swinburne University of Technology) explains in The Conversation that Australia can use our innovative rural industries as a model for innovation in other parts of the economy.

Turnbull government continues the traditional erratic approach of the Commonwealth to hospital funding

Stephen Duckett (Grattan Institute) explains in The Conversation the erratic behaviour of the Commonwealth over several decades in funding the state hospital system.