Author Archives: Warwick Smith

The war on waged labour – The Monthly

This piece published today at The Monthly online. The war on waged labour Penalty rates are under threat. What is at stake? By Warwick Smith – Monday, 9th March 2015 Despite being haunted by the spectre of WorkChoices, the campaign by the … Continue reading

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A sustainable budget surplus is beyond the government’s control, as Joe Hockey has come to realise

Warwick Smith Originally published at The Guardian. Joe Hockey, the treasurer, now concedes he may not be able to deliver his promised budget surplus any time in the foreseeable future. This news is good for private savings because, when the … Continue reading

Posted in Australian politics, Economic theory | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Reviewer for a FactCheck article in The Conversation

I reviewed the below FactCheck for the conversation. Unfortunately there is little space as a reviewer to say much but I would like to have gone into more detail discussing who really loses and who benefits from changes in company … Continue reading

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Op-ed in The Australian that attacks my guardian article is incoherent

The below op-ed was published in last week’s Australian. It is critical of my piece in The Guardian the week before. I contemplated publishing a reply but after reading the piece properly there’s actually very little substance to reply to. … Continue reading

Posted in Economic theory, Op-ed, philosophy of economics | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Political donations and the destruction of democratic scrutiny

This is an expanded version of an article originally published at The Guardian. By Warwick Smith Published by the Transnational Insitute. Abstract Many corporations donate to both sides of politics. One of the reasons they do this is to ensure … Continue reading

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Interview on economic rent taxes on Sydney’s 2ser breakfast radio

This morning I was on 2ser‘s breakfast program with Mitch Byatt discussing the proposal in my recent Conversation article that we should be increasing taxes on economic rent (unearned income). As usual with such a subject much of the interview … Continue reading

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Guardian article on economic myths

Repeat after me: the Australian economy is not like a household budget By Warwick Smith Originally published at The Guardian. Our political and economic thinking has been warped by bad analogies to the point where we can’t see the real … Continue reading

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Tax economic rent, not productive activity – The Conversation

How’s this for fundamental tax reform? Target the rentseekers By Warwick Smith, University of Melbourne Tax is back in the spotlight with coalition MPs and the Australia Institute talking about getting rid of some of the exemptions to the GST. … Continue reading

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A Mea Culpa and Some Comments on MMT and Fiat Currency Economics

It has recently been pointed out to me that some of my writing on monetary economics has not given proper attribution to the intellectual tradition behind the ideas that I present and that this gives the impression that these are … Continue reading

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Why the federal budget is not like a household budget – The Conversation

By Warwick Smith, University of Melbourne Treasurer Joe Hockey is experiencing difficult times. Deteriorating terms of trade and an uncooperative senate mean that he cannot deliver the surplus when he said he would and he cannot continue to cut government … Continue reading

Posted in Australian politics, Economic theory, Modern Monetary Theory | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments