Tag Archives: costbenefitanalysis

Economics of infrastructure interview with Craig Lawrence of Lytton Advisory

I spend much of my spare time listening to podcasts, including EconTalk, Planet Money, and the Tim Ferriss Show among others, and I’ve often thought it’s about time I start my own podcast. Over the last month or so, I’ve … Continue reading

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

Joe Branigan’s award winning paper on the correct use of CBA and economic impact analysis

Congratulations to my old friend and fellow Queensland economist Joe Branigan of SMART Infrastructure Facility for his award-winning paper on assessing the value of regional public infrastructure (see photo below). In his paper, published in the Australasian Journal of Regional … Continue reading

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Queensland Parliament Question Time featuring my Cross River Rail post

Thanks to local citizen journalist David Marler, @Qldaah, for his tweet yesterday afternoon which alerted me to the Question Time debate on Cross River Rail in the Queensland Parliament, in which my post from yesterday morning was quoted a few … Continue reading

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

Weekly highlights: BDO Economic & Political Update and ESA Qld-Nine Squared CBA seminar

It was a fantastic week to be an economist in Brisbane, with two excellent events, the BDO Economic & Political Update on Tuesday morning at BCEC and the ESA Qld-Nine Squared seminar on Cost-benefit analysis in contemporary project evaluation at … Continue reading

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Transparency essential in Building Qld cost-benefit studies of infrastructure projects

Last Thursday morning I attended an excellent breakfast seminar on infrastructure organised by the French-Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FACCI) and hosted by Holding Redlich Lawyers in their Queen St, Brisbane CBD offices. The seminar featured highly informative and … Continue reading

Posted in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Infrastructure, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Is banning plastic bags the best option to tackle litter and reduce waste?

Guest post by Rod Bogaards It looks like a push is on to ban single-use plastic bags nationally according to the Courier-Mail. A ban has already been implemented in some of the smaller states and territories but not elsewhere. Perhaps … Continue reading

Posted in Environment, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

More transparency, but KSD upgrade still looks like a dud

Jim Binney, Principal of Mainstream Economics and Policy, has undertaken further analysis of the proposed Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade, following up his guest post from yesterday, and I am very happy to publish his critique of the business case below. … Continue reading

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

Courier-Mail’s Paul Syvret on my “coldly commercial prism”

Thanks to the Courier-Mail’s Paul Syvret for quoting my last post in his Saturday opinion piece on the proposed new 1,500 seat theatre for Brisbane (see Opinion: New inner-city theatre would be a boost for Brisbane, which may be behind … Continue reading

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Ethanol mandate to be introduced despite lack of evidence on net benefits to Qld

Earlier this week, the Queensland Government introduced into Parliament a bill for a 2 per cent ethanol mandate (see this Brisbane Times report). This measure appears designed to placate Katter’s Australian Party, which is looking out for cane growers who … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Retail trade | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

2014 wrap up – Qld Govt excelled on budget management, but Adani & Tatts deals questionable

The Queensland Government’s major economic policy achievements in 2014 included: strong budget management, particularly through expenditure restraint, with the Mid Year Fiscal and Economic Review reporting that expenses in 2014-15 are expected to now be $720 million lower than budget … Continue reading

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