Issue Analysis
Issue Analysis (IA) are shorter publications that deal with controversial and current issues.
Categories
The Decade-long Binge: How Government Squandered Ten Years of Economic Prosperity
Government spending in New Zealand has increased enormously over the past decade in order to meet social goals. From 2000-2010 spending increase from $35 billion to $70.5 billion, a 57% increase in real...... Read More
Free-Trade Ferries: A Case for Competition
Sydney needs a network of ferries that is able to cater to the city’s changing demographics but is also financially sustainable and responsible. The current state-controlled model has proved inefficient,...... Read More
School Funding, Choice and Equity
CIS Research Fellow Jennifer Buckingham says the three main goals of school funding – equity, efficiency and excellence – are not being met in the current system. Instead, we need a new school funding...... Read More
Why a Growing Australia is Nothing to Fear
Australia’s population is growing because our economy is booming and our society is confident about the future. Rather than pretend population growth is not happening, we should be actively trying to...... Read More
Tax, Borrow, Spend: How the States Compare
The report evaluates and compares the recent performance of the six Australian states in fiscal management, looking at indicators such as debt, government spending and taxation. It does so from a limited...... Read More
Europe’s Painful Farewell: An Essay on the Decline of the Old World
Europe is a continent in crisis. The financial problems of many European economies became visible to the rest of world when Greece only narrowly escaped bankruptcy in May 2010. Ever since, more unpleasant...... Read More
Healthy Stores, Healthy Communities: The Impact of Outback Stores on Remote Indigenous Australians
The federal government’s initiative to improve remote community stores is crowding out the competition and not delivering on its promises.... Read More
Towards a Red Tape Trading Scheme: Treating Excessive Bureaucracy as Just Another Kind of Pollution
Government should measure the regulatory costs on the Australian economy and consider a ‘cap and trade’ scheme to manage red tape.... Read More
Defeating Dependency: Moving Disability Support Pensioners Into Jobs
The focus of welfare reform efforts should be on encouraging some of the 750,000 existing disability support pensioners back into work.... Read More
On the Right Track: Why NSW Needs Business Class Rail
Rail connections between Sydney and neighbouring cities need to improve substantially and business class carriages would be a good first step. Jennifer Buckingham and Dr Oliver Marc Hartwich look past...... Read More
Fiscal Shock and Awe in the United States
The relative economic standing of the United States, and therefore its place in the world, may decline as other less mature economies advance. But the US fiscal problem has the potential to hasten the...... Read More
What’s Next for Welfare-to-Work?
When jobs are hard to find, the incentive for unemployed people to move to other welfare payments such as DSP grows. There is a real danger that rising unemployment could undo the recent gains in reducing...... Read More
Educating The Disadvantaged
Every child can succeed at school if education providers take the right approach. Educating the Disadvantaged, a collection of four essays, reveals the diverse stories of why some schools are failing...... Read More
KiwiRail: Doomed to Fail?
Government ownership cannot and will not ‘fix’ rail in New Zealand. Luke Malpass argues that one year after the renationalisation, it has become clear that the previous government’s justifications...... Read More
Diminishing Democracy: The Threat Posed by Political Expenditure Laws
Electoral law reforms nearing a Senate vote risk making political activists inadvertent lawbreakers, deterring financial supporters of Australia’s civil society, and creating unnecessary bureaucratic...... Read More
Emissions Tax: The Least Worst Option
The New Zealand government’s emissions trading system, due to come into force in 2010 for energy and 2013 for agriculture, is the wrong approach. An emissions tax linked with other tax cuts would...... Read More
In Defence of Non-Government Schools
Non-government schools are providers of public education and deserve adequate public funding. The purposes and functions of public education – academic, social and civic – are carried out in independent...... Read More
The Folly of Criminalising Cartels
The federal government's proposal to introduce a maximum jail term of 10 years for individuals found guilty of serious cartel conduct because it thinks that existing civil penalties alone cannot adequately...... Read More
Indigenous Participation in University Education
The government’s use of race-based ‘average’ educational performance measures denigrates Indigenous achievement, ignoring the achievements of the 24,000 Indigenous university graduates in Australia. In...... Read More
Ending No. 8 Wire Welfare: Why New Zealand is Lagging Behind
The government’s welfare policy is moving in the right direction and a recession is a good time to reform the welfare system. Introducing more rigorous work-first policies is important in a recession...... Read More
