John Quiggin

New analysis finds strong fuel efficiency standards would have saved Australia A$5.9 billion in fuel costs if the policy had been adopted in 2015.

Increasing what the owners of electric-powered vehicles pay is a second-best solution that might move us further away from first best. It might discourage the takeup of vehicles that impose fewer costs on society.

A new Australian National University policy brief proposes a practical way to ensure economic security, calling it a ‘Liveable Income Guarantee’. Explained here.

We should resist any attempt to return to the market liberal economy of the past few decades. Not only has it proven to be of no use in dealing with crises like the pandemic, it has regularly generated crises of its own, such as the global financial crisis, forcing governments to come to the rescue.

Within the space of weeks, Australia has been transformed into a command economy. For the next couple of weeks at least, as the lockdown of the economy is completed, policy will be made up as we go along. But then it will be time to think about the future, and how we will deal with the consequence of the command economy we have created.

The agencies dedicated to “protecting our secrets” are insisting on a password security method that even the Daily Mail knows is nonsense, writes John Quiggin.

Abolishing the states is a popular pipe dream with high-profile backers. But it would be an unworkable step backwards, argues economist John Quiggin.