The government has called an election and is now in caretaker
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Articles
2023
Opinion piece: Tis the season to give generously
They called Chuck Feeney the “James Bond of philanthropy”. During his life, he gave away his entire $US8 billion fortune. And he did it anonymously.
Opinion piece: Charity is at the heart of Australia
Across the world, democracy is under pressure. According to one set of experts, the world entered a ‘democratic recession' in 2016 and is yet to recover.
Book review: Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
In 2021, Forbes magazine put cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman‑Fried on its cover.
Opinion piece: Random trials of policy are just what doctor ordered
One of the Australian Government's announcements this year has been the creation of the Australian Centre for Evaluation.
Opinion piece: Start ups, upstarts and competition
Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht started Canva in their early twenties. Ruslan Kogan started Kogan at age 23. At the same age, Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon‑Brookes started Atlassian.
Opinion piece: Competition is a bouquet for small businesses
Suppose you open the first florist in your suburb. As a local trader, you pride yourself on being part of the community.
Opinion piece: Artificial intelligence boom poses big risks for competition
The rise of AI engines has been remarkable. To reach 100 million users, the telephone took 75 years. The mobile phone took 16 years. ChatGPT took two months.
Opinion piece: Albanese Government's Australian Centre for Evaluation to champion high-quality randomised trials
Social workers in schools always boost student outcomes. Drug offenders shouldn't be treated differently. Malaria bed nets are more likely to be used if people pay for them.
Opinion piece: Matildas show the way for Aussie competition
If anyone needed proof that competition drives better performance, you only need to look at the Matildas, whose peak World Cup soccer matches attracted more viewers than any Australian sporting eve
Opinion piece: No child's future should be pre-determined from their birth
A century ago, Banjo Paterson wrote in his poem ‘Boots’:
They called us ‘mad Australians’;
they couldn’t understand
How officers and men could fraternise
Opinion piece: Monopoly makes life harder for central banks
The job of the Reserve Bank is never easy, but it is especially challenging at times when inflation is outside the target band.
Opinion piece: Try it and see
Last year, researchers published a study in which ten different job training programs were evaluated through randomised trials – the way medical researchers test new drugs.
Opinion piece: Rebuilding communities in a 'friendship recession'
How many people can you talk to without having to watch what you say? In 1984, Australian adults averaged nine trusted friends. A generation later it had fallen to five.
Opinion piece: Choosing Openness – Key to Future Prosperity
None of us make our own running shoes, fix our own teeth, or build our own cars.
Opinion piece: Choosing openness in the international economy
The COVID pandemic was good for isolationists and xenophobes, and bad for globalisers and internationalists.
Opinion piece: Unfair practices hurt consumers, businesses, profits
In the economy, just as in sport, there are winners and losers. Sometimes you just play better on the day.
Opinion piece: How uncompetitive markets reduce wages
Folk music is replete with songs about struggling employees in company towns. In Sixteen Tons, Johnny Cash sings ‘You load 16 tons, what do you get?
Opinion piece: Making it fairer for all
My first music purchases were records. Mostly, I bought 45 RPM singles. But when I could afford them, I splurged on 33 RPM albums.
Opinion piece: Running better evaluations
As a keen runner, I’m pretty keen on going where the evidence points. In experiments, high intensity training produces remarkable gains, so I try to build it into every workout.
Opinion piece: Let’s stop governments from making the same mistake twice
In 1890, rust fungus wiped out much of Australia’s wheat crop, and the colonies had to import wheat.