Economic Policy
The Centre for Independent Studies is guided by the philosophy of free markets and individual responsibility. Our economic policy research centres on ideas that will strengthen Australia’s economy for the future and challenge the reach of big government.
Continuing economic reform is desperately needed in Australia. Our new project, Left Behind, is looking at the shifting patterns of employment, inequality and family breakdown in Australia and will give a unique picture of the Australia’s workforce. In addition our work on regulation and the tax system continues to focus on providing solutions that will strengthen economic independence and prosperity.
For more information on our economic research, please proceed to:
Featured Publication
Mapping migrants: Australians’ wide-ranging experiences of immigration
Charles Jacobs
05 December 2018 | PP13
Australians’ experiences of immigration are highly varied. Using 2016 ABS Census data, this POLICY Paper finds that – statistically – the wealth of the suburb we live in can have a major impact on the type of interaction we may have with migrants. These different experiences could go some way…
READ MOREPublications
Why we should defend capitalism
Eugenie Joseph
28 November 2018 | PP12
Capitalism has become a controversial idea in recent years; yet economic markets and free enterprise are responsible for lifting millions of people out of abject poverty, improving the quality of life around the world, and creating shared prosperity. Capitalism has also proven effective at sustaining…
Australian Attitudes to Immigration: Coming Apart or Common Ground?
Jeremy Sammut, Monica Wilkie
18 November 2018 | PP11
Immigration has been a contentious political issue in Australia and overseas for a number of years. Many political parties and figures have emerged promising to severely restrict or halt immigration. Australia has largely avoided significant political disruptions over this issue. However, as immigration levels continue…
Voting for a living: A shift in Australian politics from selling policies to buying votes?
Robert Carling, Terrence O'Brien
05 September 2018 | PP9
This paper explores the hypothesis that growth of government has become self-sustaining through the emergence of a segment of the population that both enjoys sufficient direct support from government and is large enough that political parties shape policies to curry its favour. The researchers use…
Why childcare is not affordable
Eugenie Joseph
29 August 2018 | RR37
Childcare fees and out-of-pocket costs in Australia have been growing above inflation in recent years, at the same time that more parents are using formalised childcare to support their participation in the workforce. Childcare has been subject to growing and evolving regulation for many years,…
Curbing Corporate Social Responsibility: Preventing Politicisation – and Preserving Pluralism – in Australian Business
Jeremy Sammut
21 August 2018 | AP2
The unprecedented part that leading that Australian companies played in the same-sex marriage campaign in the name of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has led critics to argue that companies should “stick to their knitting” and not meddle in politically-contentious social debates. CSR threatens to become…
Media & Commentary
The benefits of making super voluntary might be substantial
Simon Cowan
08 December 2018 | The Sydney Morning Herald
It is becoming ever more difficult to avoid the conclusion that Australia’s superannuation system has long relied on those funding it — both taxpayers and savers — being ignorant of…
Fiscal discipline as a victim of political disruption
Robert Carling
07 December 2018 | Ideas@TheCentre
It is often said that Australians have become complacent about what is needed to maintain the foundations for solid growth in the economy – jobs, real wages and living standards…
Proclaiming the good news on capitalism
Eugenie Joseph
30 November 2018 | Ideas@TheCentre
It is clear that capitalism is having a moral crisis, when even Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of a prosperous capitalist economy, terms it a “blatant failure”. But Australians have…
Budget surplus?
Simon Cowan
30 November 2018 | Ideas@TheCentre
The government has announced that the next Budget will deliver a surplus: the first in more than a decade. And unlike the “four years of surpluses” Wayne Swan announced in…
Why the ABC’s plans for unrestrained growth diminish the entire sector
Simon Cowan
29 November 2018 | Crikey
It is something of an article of faith on the right of politics that the greatest problem with the ABC is its bias against the right of politics generally, and…