Tag Archives: industrypolicy

Qantas call for state gov’t incentives highlights the prisoners’ dilemma of interstate bidding wars

Queensland Government agencies such as Treasury and State Development will be busy developing an incentive package, no doubt containing payroll tax concessions and possibly a grant, to attract Qantas’s HQ. As the Australian reported yesterday: Qantas is asking state governments … Continue reading

Posted in Industry policy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Upcoming Qld Parliamentary COVID-19 Inquiry appearance

Next Monday I’ll be appearing, via Zoom, at a public hearing of the Queensland Parliament’s Inquiry into the Queensland Government’s economic response to COVID-19. I’m a member of a Panel of Economic Experts which also includes UQ Professor John Quiggin, … Continue reading

Posted in Industry policy, Macroeconomy, Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Picking winners – industry policy podcast chat with Craig Lawrence

With the Queensland Government willing to invest $200 million in Virgin Australia to keep its HQ in Brisbane, I thought it would be timely to record a podcast interview on investment attraction and industry policy more broadly. On Tuesday, I … Continue reading

Posted in Industry policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

My comments in Saturday’s Courier-Mail on payroll tax concessions—e.g. for BrewDog & Disney

With the possible exception of President Trump, the most interesting American politician at the moment is the millennial, freshman member of the House from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC). She is one of the main players is what The Economist … Continue reading

Posted in Industry policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Professionals’ share of employment much lower in Qld than in southern states

Regular reader Mike Willis made an excellent comment regarding my previous post breaking down the difference between Queensland’s unemployment rate and the rate for the rest of Australia, with Mike observing: Am I correct in guessing that the relative deficit … Continue reading

Posted in Industry policy, Labour market, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

On Qld’s relative lack of big private sector employers

Business registrations data published by the ABS reveal Queensland has disproportionately fewer major private sector employers (with 200+ employees) than southern states. And the gap is particularly disproportionate in several sectors, including information media & telecommunications, professional, scientific & technical … Continue reading

Posted in Industry policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Nostalgia for the car industry won’t bring it back: domestic market too small, labour costs too high

It is the last day of car manufacturing in Australia today, with the final Holden cars to be manufactured at the soon to be shut Elizabeth plant in SA, as reported in the Courier-Mail. It is awful that thousands of … Continue reading

Posted in Industry policy, Labour market, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

International film productions such as Thor: Ragnarok unworthy of Qld taxpayer support

Thor: Ragnarok, now filming on the Gold Coast, and which is supposedly receiving Queensland taxpayer support of $3 million (see my post from October last year), is delivering much lower benefits to locals than may have been expected, as reported … Continue reading

Posted in Industry policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Australia Awards program with Indonesian Finance Ministry officials on strengthening the public policy process

In late October, I felt honoured to deliver workshops on economic forecasting and industry policy to officials from the Indonesian Ministry of Finance. The officials were recipients of Australia Awards from the Australian Government and were visiting Brisbane to attend … Continue reading

Posted in Industry policy, Macroeconomy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Transparency needed around luring film productions such as Thor: Ragnarok to Qld

In its final report on government industry assistance (i.e. corporate welfare) released in August, the Queensland Competition Authority recommended an end to the lack of transparency that still, alas, characterises Queensland Government industry attraction measures. This lack of transparency was … Continue reading

Posted in Industry policy | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments