Category Archives: Political philosophy

The state of democracy – Part 2 of 3 in The Guardian

Political donations corrupt democracy in ways you might not realise By Warwick Smith Originally published at The Guardian, Thursday 11 September 2014 10.37 AEST A consequence of a donation-driven approach to politics is that areas of political debate are in … Continue reading

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The Guardian – Why politicians must lie by Warwick Smith

Why politicians must lie – and how selling ice creams is like an election campaign By Warwick Smith Originaly published at The Guardian. 27/8/2014 Politicians must choose to either stand up for what they believe or maximise their vote. To … Continue reading

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Snowpiercer, a film that makes you cheer against yourself

By Warwick Smith The bizarre and gratuitously violent, soon-to-be-cult movie that is Snowpiercer is in a long tradition of film and fiction writing that casts radical judgment on its audience. The teenage cult sensation The Hunger Games sits in powerful … Continue reading

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Abbott achieves the impossible: unity among economists – The Guardian

Originally published in The Guardian. Please go here to read the original. Economists are refuting the three big picture claims made by the government: 1) We have a budget emergency 2) We have a debt crisis and 3) The carbon … Continue reading

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Australia flying blind

By Warwick Smith Originally published at the Australian Independent Media Network In this article Warwick Smith reports why the decision by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to discontinue many programs including the Measures of Australia’s Progress due to budgetary demands, is … Continue reading

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‘Venditio’ by John Locke

This hard to find short essay by John Locke is very surprising in its brief yet sophisticated thinking with respect to market prices and morality. I put it here mostly as a reference for others who may struggle to find … Continue reading

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My article in today’s Guardian – The United States of Australia?

Are we witnessing the emergence of the United States of Australia? Australia can have its cake and eat it too, because a healthy and materially secure population will repay enormous economic dividends. Instead, we’re going further down the US pathin … Continue reading

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Op-ed in The Age: Treasurer’s agenda running out of truth

This article originally appeared in The Age. Treasurer’s agenda running out of truth by Warwick Smith Joe Hockey has been talking non-stop about how the country is running out of money for Medicare, for the ABC, for welfare and for … Continue reading

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My new article in The Conversation – Tax reform is hard…so it’s time for an independent tax board

Just published today. Tax reform is hard…so it’s time for an independent tax board By Warwick Smith, University of Melbourne The federal government’s Commission of Audit – tasked with finding efficiency and productivity improvements to deliver a surplus of 1% … Continue reading

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State of the left

Just read an article in Overland by Nina Power about the state of the left in modern politics. She claims that the left has lost it’s way and is losing the battle against the right with all manner of social … Continue reading

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