Tag Archives: treasury

Qld state debt debate is challenging for both sides

Posted on November 3, 2017 by

What an exciting first week of the election campaign! I am very pleased that state government debt is a prominent issue in the campaign, and I must say I’m surprised by the Queensland Treasurer’s recent description of the total state … Continue reading →

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

UQ student’s Treasury prize winning essay highlights benefits of competition & free trade

Posted on September 27, 2017 by

The Australian Treasury yesterday announced the winner of its inaugural essay competition, and the award went to University of Queensland Economics student Elizabeth Baldwin, who incidentally also won the RBA/Economic Society of Australia essay prize last year. The essay question … Continue reading →

Posted in Productivity, Trade, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On the upcoming Ted Evans lecture & Qld’s recent employment trends

Posted on July 22, 2017 by

On 14 September, the Economic Society of Australia (Qld), of which I am the Secretary, is hosting the inaugural Ted Evans Public Policy Lecture at Customs House, Brisbane. The inaugural lecturer will be none other than former Treasury Secretary Ted … Continue reading →

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Interview with ABC Radio’s Steve Austin on “The time Australia’s Treasury almost ran out of money”

Posted on April 24, 2017 by

I had a nice chat with 612 ABC Brisbane’s Steve Austin last Friday morning regarding my time in the Australian Treasury, particularly during the financial crisis in 2008-09, and focusing on what he described as: The time Australia’s Treasury almost … Continue reading →

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Government right to rule out fiscal stimulus

Posted on December 11, 2016 by

The ½ percent GDP contraction in September quarter that the ABS published last week has raised a lot of questions about the current state of the economy, and whether the Government should do more in terms of economic reform or … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Better Living through Economics – upcoming presentation at UQ

Posted on October 26, 2016 by

Economists have made immense contributions to people’s wellbeing over the last fifty years. An Australian example that comes to mind is the instrumental role economists played in advocating for and designing microeconomic reforms, including tariff reductions, privatisations and the deregulation … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy, Trade, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Treasury dumps wellbeing framework & defines principal objectives around Budget, productivity and globalisation

Posted on September 22, 2016 by

Of the many outstanding contributions that former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry made to public policy in Australia, one of my favourites was the wellbeing framework. This framework established Treasury’s goal as improving the wellbeing of Australians, and identified five elements … Continue reading →

Posted in Industry policy, Labour market, Macroeconomy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments