Dump inflation targeting
Yesterday, I pointed out that the first instalment of the rescue package could be financed by cancelling the Stage 3 income tax cuts legislated for 2024-25. Today, the same suggestion is on the front page of the SMH.
Articles from John Quiggin
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Renationalisation in Australia
I got a message from a student asking about examples of renationalisation in Australia. Here’s my response
There hasn’t been much explicit renationalisation of business enterprises in Australia. What we have seen is
How to pay for the rescue
I was asked by a journalist about the long-term fiscal effects of the government response to the crisis. Here’s what I said
Border deflection
Another recent piece, this time in Inside Story. Opening paras
To manage the crisis, we need to think like central planners
I forgot to link to this piece in The Conversation when it came out a week ago. Unlike much of what I’ve written lately, it hasn’t been overtaken by events.
What should the post-coronavirus economy look like?
The New Daily asked me to write a bit on the question “What should/will the post-coronavirus economy look like?
Here’s what I sent
Monday Message Board
Back again with another Monday Message Board.
Post comments on any topic. Civil discussion and no coarse language please. Side discussions and idees fixes to the sandpits, please. If you would like to receive my (hopefully) regular email news, please sign up using the following link
Job vouchers: a step towards a Jobs Guarantee
It seems quite likely that we will soon see the introduction of a wage subsidy along the lines of that announced by Boris Johnson (himself now testing positive!) in the UK. That is, a payment to employers equal to 70 or 80 per cent of workers’ pre-crisis wages, in return for keeping them on for some period. That would be better than doing nothing beyond what has already been announced, but I have two big problems with it.
The awful arithmetic of herd immunity
The ABC has an article quoting University of Melbourne epidemiologist Tony Blakely as saying (approvingly) that the object of the current “flattening the curve strategy is to smooth the path to herd immunity. Key quotes
You don’t go in too hard because you actually want the infection rate to pick up a bit and then hold,” he said.
The 75 per cent solution: tourism (repost from 2007)
We won’t be travelling anywhere much by air for some time to come, so this is a good time to reconsider our whole approach. I thought I’d start by digging out this post from 2007.