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Category Archives: Economics
Kids Denied 2 Hour Shifts
I wrote previously about the case of two teenagers who were being denied 2 hour after school shifts at the local grocery co-op. Now, in their infinite wisdom, the bucreacrats at Fair Work Australia have decided that employers must offer at least a 3 hour shift to casual employees:
FAIR WORK Australia has dealt a blow to business by dismissing an appeal by retailers to allow students to work less than three-hour shifts after school.
The National Retail Association and Master Grocers Australia had appealed against a Fair Work Australia decision to maintain a national three-hour minimum shift requirement in the retail sector.
Retailers said today’s ruling would kill off after-school jobs and hurt struggling retailers, while the ACTU said it would protect the wages of casual workers.
You do the math. Schools close at 3pm. Shops close at 5pm (in most cases). This gives a 2 hour window of opportunity for school-aged children to study, work and earn some money. Fair Work Australia mandates 3 hour shifts. It doesn’t take an astrologist economist to predict that school-aged employment drops as a result. Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Nanny State
Tagged ACTU, fair work, Nanny State, youth employment
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The Folly of Centralised Planning: Shaping “Green” Behaviour
If you want to see the unintended consequences of a well-meaning, well-intentioned government programs, look no further than Michael Stutchbery’s analysis of the Australian Government’s “Green Loan” Program: Continue reading
Posted in Economics
Tagged australia, central planning, Economics, gillard, green loan, Nanny State, rudd
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Increasing Energy Efficiency Leads to More Energy Consumption
A new physics study published in the Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics by Jeff Tsao of Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, reaffirms the basic law of economics, the cheaper a good is, the more it is used. They predict that the introduction of solid-state lighting could increase the consumption of light by a factor of ten within two decades: Continue reading
Posted in Climate, Economics
Tagged conservation, consumption, efficiency, energy, jeff tsao, physics, solid state
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Tax Havens Promote Lower Taxes
Do you think tax havens are a threat to our prosperity? No, it’s not. Tax havens promote lower tax rates around the world. As a nation reduces taxes, investment, jobs and prosperity follow. To keep up, other nations reduce their rates.
The video from the Center of Freedom and Prosperity explains the benefit of tax competition and the threats of financial protectionism from the OECD. Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Libertarianism
Tagged Center of Freedom and Prosperity, oecd, tax competition, tax haven
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Cato Weighs In On on the Paul Hogan Tax Dispute
Dan J. Mitchell, the entertaining senior fellow, at the Cato Institute comments on Paul Hogan vs. Australian Tax Office:
The grinches at the tax office took advantage of Hogan’s return for his mother’s funeral to hold him hostage, refusing to let him leave the country until he coughs up some cash. It appears that the tax police in Australia are just as politicized and above the law as the IRS. Hogan has never been charged with tax evasion and there are plenty of signs that the bureaucrats want to make him a high-profile victim to justify the amount of money that has been squandered in a probe of supposed offshore evasion. Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Libertarianism
Tagged ato, australian tax office, evasion, Paul Hogan, tax
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Australian Government Spending and The Rahn Curve
An interesting video from Dan Mitchell, from the Cato Institute, explaining the Rahn Curve and the curse of big government:
Australian Government spending:
The Australian Government spending as a proportion of GDP as of 2007-2008 was 24 percent (source). In the above video, Dan references a number of studies that show that the optimum government spending to GDP ratio should be between 15 to 25 percent. Although keep in mind this is only the federal level of spending. If we were to include local, state and federal spending, then total government spending would be 34.2 percent of GDP (source). This would put us on downward slope of the Rahn curve. Continue reading
Posted in Economics
Tagged australia, cato, dan mitchell, gdp, government spending, rahn curve
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