Category Archives: Uncategorized

My comments in Morningstar article on Australia’s “27-year economic winning streak”

Posted on June 30, 2018 by Gene Tunny

One frequently quoted economic fact I think is a bit dubious is that Australia has had a record breaking expansion of 27 years. Although Australia avoided a technical recession (by not having two successive quarters of declining real GDP) during … Continue reading →

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Inner Brisbane Cross River Rail CAPEX comparable to statewide education CAPEX

Posted on June 21, 2018 by Gene Tunny

Just before I appeared on 612 ABC Brisbane’s Breakfast program last week, one of the presenters Bec Levingston asked Deputy Premier Treasurer Jackie Trad what it would cost to air condition every classroom in Queensland, a question she obviously couldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

My ABC radio interviews on the Qld state budget for 2018-19

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Gene Tunny

I made two trips to ABC’s South Brisbane studios yesterday. On the Breakfast program, hosts Bec Levingston and Craig Zonca and I chatted about Queensland’s growing state debt, the distinction between good and bad debt, and the state’s credit rating. … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

What I’m expecting from the 2018-19 Qld state budget

Posted on June 9, 2018 by Gene Tunny

This coming Tuesday, 12 June, Queensland Deputy Premier-Treasurer Jackie Trad will deliver her first state budget. It is her best chance to establish her economic credibility. Trad is fortunate the state economy is performing reasonably well, albeit not strongly across … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Better to let the private sector risk money on a new Brisbane theatre

Posted on May 28, 2018 by Gene Tunny

In a November 2015 post New 1,500 seat theatre would likely be a waste of taxpayers’ money, I questioned the desirability of a state government-funded $1.3M business case to investigate a new 1,500 seat theatre for Brisbane. At the time, … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Upcoming AIIA talk on Asian tiger & tiger cub economies and impacts on Qld and Australia

Posted on May 25, 2018 by Gene Tunny

When I first started studying economics in the early nineties, the international economies that mattered most to Australia were Japan, then beginning its lost decade, and the US, the winner of the cold war and the undisputed global economic and … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

How did the Qld government accumulate so much debt?

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Gene Tunny

One of Queensland Deputy Premier-Treasurer Jackie Trad’s biggest challenges in her first state budget, to be delivered next month, is to demonstrate a credible debt reduction strategy. She needs to show how she can reduce state debt from its current … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

2018 Budget: Party like it’s 1999!

Posted on May 7, 2018 by Gene Tunny

Guest post by Dr Andreas Chai, Economic Policy and Analysis Program, Griffith University 1999 was a great year to be alive in Australia. Apart from Prince hitting the airwaves again, Powderfinger were still playing and topped the hottest 100, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

BCC residential parking permit zone in West End & Highgate Hill is bad policy

Posted on May 3, 2018 by Gene Tunny

I have previously posted on the high cost of free parking, the problem identified by UCLA economics professor Donald Shoup that arises when councils do not properly price access to on-street parking (see Another example of the high cost of … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Economics of online dating: upcoming WEN/ESA event at Alliance Hotel, 16 May

Posted on May 2, 2018 by Gene Tunny

The news that Facebook is expanding into online dating reminded me of an upcoming event on the Economics of Online Dating at the Alliance Hotel, Spring Hill on Wednesday 16 May featuring QUT economist Stephen Whyte, and hosted by the … Continue reading →

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