Monthly Archives: July 2011

Townsville Futures Plan

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland Government released the Townsville Futures Plan today, and it includes the rather meaningless designation of Townsville as the second capital of Queensland -hey, if you’re not first, you’re last – as well as acknowledging the city as the defence … Continue reading →

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Increasing links with India great news for Qld economy

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Gene Tunny

India is expected to overtake China in population by around 2025 (What the world will look like in 2050), so it’s great news that Queensland is expanding its links with the country, as reported in today’s Brisbane Times: A massive … Continue reading →

Posted in India, Retail trade | Leave a comment

Media over-reacts to jobs data

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Media reports such as “Robust jobs growth in June shows economy in ‘reasonable health’” that are based on monthly movements in the ABS Labour Force Survey employment estimates are often meaningless. This is clear from the wide confidence intervals surrounding monthly … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy | 2 Comments

Country Australia not happy with carbon tax

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Country Australia is not happy with the carbon tax. Recent frustrations include the exemption of petrol but not diesel from the carbon tax and the impact of the carbon tax on the cost of irrigated agriculture, particularly cotton. These concerns, … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change | Leave a comment

Macarthur Coal’s new logo

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the sharemarket listing of Queensland’s emerging mining giant Macarthur Coal, which I’ve heard was the third best performer among ASX 300 companies over the last decade. At its tenth anniversary celebration at the Queensland … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining | Leave a comment

Infrastructure Australia criticises State Governments for slow progress on reforms

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Infrastructure Australia’s latest report to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) won’t give much comfort to people who hope our governments actually know what they’re doing when it comes to building the roads, railways and ports we need for the … Continue reading →

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Yes, closing coal industry would cost lots of jobs, but is that likely to happen?

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland Government is expecting to earn $2.8 billion in coal royalties in 2011-12 (Budget Strategy and Outlook, p. 94). Shutting down the coal industry would obviously have a large impact on Queensland’s Budget and economy, as well as the … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Mining, Queensland Government | Leave a comment

Families, tradies and small businesses can keep on polluting

Posted on July 3, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Excluding petrol from the carbon tax is good news for people who drive a lot, but means we will all have to pay even higher electricity prices. The Australian reports: “Families, tradies, small business people do not have to worry about a … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Tax, Transport | Leave a comment

Recommended reading for delegates to the Gold Coast Turning Point Summit

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Gene Tunny

I am currently reading Harvard Economics Professor Edward Glaeser’s masterpiece Triumph of the City, published earlier this year. I’d recommend it to anyone attending the upcoming Gold Coast Turning Point Summit. It contains very useful advice from the leading international economist … Continue reading →

Posted in Gold Coast | 3 Comments

To boost productivity, Government should first cut wasteful spending

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Treasury Secretary Dr Martin Parkinson is right to argue for a new wave of reform to boost productivity. Hopefully he also recognises that one of the best things governments can do to boost productivity is to cut wasteful spending and … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Macroeconomy | 1 Comment