Monthly Archives: March 2014

Weekend reading – 15-16 March

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Productivity Commission’s monster of a report on Public Infrastructure, which (rightly) recommends congestion pricing on roads, is worth reading, particularly because of the excellent Chapter 14 in Volume 2 on Social and Economic Regulation. On the costs to business … Continue reading →

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Something for the optimists in today’s labour force data

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Gene Tunny

My friend and former Treasury colleague Joe Branigan has found some good news for Queensland in today’s new labour force data. Earlier today, Joe tweeted an interesting chart (see below), showing Queensland has led Australia in the growth of hours … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Treasury projections suggest Qld Plan regional population target unachievable

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I’ve previously questioned whether the target in the draft Queensland Plan to have half the population living outside South East Queensland is achievable (see Regional infrastructure plan should be based on updated population projections). The latest official State population projections from Queensland … Continue reading →

Posted in Population, Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Large fare savings possible from taxi industry deregulation

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Gene Tunny

My friend and colleague Brad Rogers has a great post at his blog on Queensland Taxi Licenses and Drunken Violence. Brad argues: Queensland’s taxi regulations are costing the Brisbane public over $80 million per year and may be contributing to drunken … Continue reading →

Posted in Industry policy | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Clever way of getting around Brisbane City Council food business licensing

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Bean Coffee, which is accessible from an alleyway off George St in Brisbane CBD, has come up with a clever way of circumventing Brisbane City Council’s food business licensing regulation. Bean will sell you the ingredients to make a toasted … Continue reading →

Posted in Retail trade | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Reduce youth unemployment through improved regulation – e.g. of penalty rates, taxis

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Gene Tunny

With overall unemployment creeping up to 6%, unemployment among 15 to 24 year olds, which tends to be naturally higher anyway and ends up even higher when the economy slows, has increased to over 15% and has re-emerged as a … Continue reading →

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Fiscal restraint impacting Queensland economy

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Gene Tunny

While containing reasonably good news for the national economy, today’s new National Accounts data from the ABS suggest the December quarter of last year was a lacklustre one for the Queensland economy, with the (albeit imperfect) measure of State Final … Continue reading →

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Residential building approvals have recovered nicely – but some weakness still in regions

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Gene Tunny

It appears Master Builders Queensland was right to report last month that Queensland builders are optimistic (see my post on the report), with today’s new residential building approvals from the ABS showing a strong upward trend nationally and in Queensland … Continue reading →

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