Totally agree I used to specialise in corporate law economics and brought Roberta Romano from Yale Law to ANU to help argue that states retain responsibility for corporate law. Almost no one was interested. As a result corporate law is now exponentially greater in volume as are the public servants to run it. The law is so complex that only highly paid professionals understand it. Probably a major reason for the decline in productivity in Australia. Ian Mcewin formerly of ANU Law
Nowadays we accept that sexual behaviour between consenting adults is nobody else's business, what about employment conditions between consenting adults as well?
Another brilliant piece Mike which belongs on the front page of major newspapers. Especially enjoyed the line, ‘…our bureaucrats think of themselves as the clients, and all are there to serve them.’
It’s one thing ‘servicing’ them with taxes collected from the tax payer … it’s another thing altogether to borrow money from our ‘kids’ future to fund this bloated and shameless public sector.
Obviously this trajectory is unsustainable and funding government deficits particularly in the West will be a major issue going forward, if not already.
Competitive federalism and a return to a ‘gold standard’ is the solution. In recent times the gold price has soared due mainly to central banks buying from around the world. Gold is again a tier one asset, unlike the unlimited FIAT currencies which gets increasingly debased with each passing ‘democratic’ election and weaponised with sanctions and tariffs at a whim.
Which leads me to Australia … we are one of top 3 gold producers worldwide yet the Australian government owns less than 80 metric tonnes (mt) which is actually held in Britain on loan. The USA by contrast is said to own 8000 mt. As a matter of urgency we need to refill our coffers with gold. All gold producers in Australia should be exempt from taxation but instead provide 10% of its gold production to the government. Over 10 years that should amount to a respectable 300 mt.
Top marks for exposing this national 'virus' to some seriously needed sunlight. It is not talked about or seriously considered and it should be. Indeed it should be a Coalition platform... yeah, nah... Ok a priority policy for a new First Australia Party. Seriously the figures glaringly show the facts and they 'ain't pretty. Florida and Texas are proving it's mightily not just doable but effective. I hope you'll send this piece to The Australian for publication - it's a sound transformational remedy for many of our ills and ailments.
In such a deep structural reform, education must be moved from the states to the Commonwealth. There is no point in encouraging interstate competition when our education standards are significantly below those of almost any European country.
Great article Mike - political competition between states has been a feature of Western civilisation for centuries, but we’ve abandoned that here in the name of equality. There’s clearly no plan by either party to get under-performing states off welfare, and no politician seems brave enough to risk potentially losing seats in those states. I believe income tax was taken off the states as a temporary measure during WW2, might be time to roll that back!
If GST revenue was dispersed by the Feds purely on the basis of population it would solve most of the issues. Tasmania of course would be a lot poorer and WA a lot richer, but there is nothing to stop Tasmanians moving to WA to share the bounty. As the article indicates the present system rewards bad performance. We should also return all industrial relations powers to the states and then states seeking an advantage would create more liberal systems. In the U.S. the Southern States used to be much poorer than the North, but to take advantage of cheaper labour and less restrictive conditions, many industrial enterprises moved South, raising southern incomes. We have nothing like this in Australia.
Rafe, indeed our industrial relations laws are growing ever more inflexible. Soon, they take
Another turn making it even harder to restructure.
Totally agree I used to specialise in corporate law economics and brought Roberta Romano from Yale Law to ANU to help argue that states retain responsibility for corporate law. Almost no one was interested. As a result corporate law is now exponentially greater in volume as are the public servants to run it. The law is so complex that only highly paid professionals understand it. Probably a major reason for the decline in productivity in Australia. Ian Mcewin formerly of ANU Law
What about deregulating industrial relations?
Nowadays we accept that sexual behaviour between consenting adults is nobody else's business, what about employment conditions between consenting adults as well?
How come AWAs disappeared without a murmur?
https://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AltLawJl/1998/26.pdf
Another brilliant piece Mike which belongs on the front page of major newspapers. Especially enjoyed the line, ‘…our bureaucrats think of themselves as the clients, and all are there to serve them.’
It’s one thing ‘servicing’ them with taxes collected from the tax payer … it’s another thing altogether to borrow money from our ‘kids’ future to fund this bloated and shameless public sector.
Obviously this trajectory is unsustainable and funding government deficits particularly in the West will be a major issue going forward, if not already.
Competitive federalism and a return to a ‘gold standard’ is the solution. In recent times the gold price has soared due mainly to central banks buying from around the world. Gold is again a tier one asset, unlike the unlimited FIAT currencies which gets increasingly debased with each passing ‘democratic’ election and weaponised with sanctions and tariffs at a whim.
Which leads me to Australia … we are one of top 3 gold producers worldwide yet the Australian government owns less than 80 metric tonnes (mt) which is actually held in Britain on loan. The USA by contrast is said to own 8000 mt. As a matter of urgency we need to refill our coffers with gold. All gold producers in Australia should be exempt from taxation but instead provide 10% of its gold production to the government. Over 10 years that should amount to a respectable 300 mt.
Apologies for the long rant.
Top marks for exposing this national 'virus' to some seriously needed sunlight. It is not talked about or seriously considered and it should be. Indeed it should be a Coalition platform... yeah, nah... Ok a priority policy for a new First Australia Party. Seriously the figures glaringly show the facts and they 'ain't pretty. Florida and Texas are proving it's mightily not just doable but effective. I hope you'll send this piece to The Australian for publication - it's a sound transformational remedy for many of our ills and ailments.
We live in strange times indeed… good ideas don’t see the light of day while bad ideas not only get a megaphone but rewarded.
Just as long as the other states don't go full tilt Victoria.
Problem with this is that NSW is going backwards at a fast rate of knots cheered on by state media and WA is a recipient of billions in unearned GST
Suburban rail loop (not Southern). Fabulous article.
Thank you for the correction.
In such a deep structural reform, education must be moved from the states to the Commonwealth. There is no point in encouraging interstate competition when our education standards are significantly below those of almost any European country.
Great article Mike - political competition between states has been a feature of Western civilisation for centuries, but we’ve abandoned that here in the name of equality. There’s clearly no plan by either party to get under-performing states off welfare, and no politician seems brave enough to risk potentially losing seats in those states. I believe income tax was taken off the states as a temporary measure during WW2, might be time to roll that back!
If GST revenue was dispersed by the Feds purely on the basis of population it would solve most of the issues. Tasmania of course would be a lot poorer and WA a lot richer, but there is nothing to stop Tasmanians moving to WA to share the bounty. As the article indicates the present system rewards bad performance. We should also return all industrial relations powers to the states and then states seeking an advantage would create more liberal systems. In the U.S. the Southern States used to be much poorer than the North, but to take advantage of cheaper labour and less restrictive conditions, many industrial enterprises moved South, raising southern incomes. We have nothing like this in Australia.