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The lost decade
The Wall Street Journal examined some new US census data and found that the past decade was “the worst for American families in at least half a century”. They find that: The inflation-adjusted income...
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The level of inequality
In this fascinating interview, Bob Gregory talks of growing up in an unremarkable middle class suburb in Melbourne’s north. He recalls believing that his little street in 1940s Pascoe Vale was...
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More on housing and inequality
The other day I had a guest post from my friend Simon Mongey, featuring some interesting charts he made using ABS Confidentialised Unit Record File (CURF) data . He’s sent me another couple of...
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Book Review – Disconnected by Andrew Leigh
Econoblogger-turned-Parliamentarian, Andrew Leigh, has released a new book about the erosion of social capital in Australia, titled Disconnected. It’s in the vein of his mentor Robert Putnam’s Bowling...
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Economic growth, human welfare and inequality
Just a quick post to say that I very much enjoyed the recent three-part Lionel Robbins Memorial Lectures delivered by Adair Turner at the LSE: Part 1 – Economic Growth, Human Welfare and Inequality...
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Inequality and financial crises
A new IMF Working Paper on the role of inequality in generating financial crises has some interesting findings: [The paper] explore[s] the nexus between increases in the income advantage enjoyed by...
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What is the typical Australian’s income?
There are a couple of pieces in the News Ltd papers today which advance the view that the Government is practising unconscionable ‘class warfare’ by reducing the benefits paid to families with incomes...
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When is inequality ‘good’ and when is it ‘bad’?
Branko Milanovic, lead economist of the World Bank research group, has a fascinating new book called The Haves and the Have-Nots, a look at inequality across the globe and throughout history. In the...
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Inequality and the top 1% in Australia
With the “Occupy X” rallies gathering momentum and attention, inequality is suddenly a prominent political issue. It’s pretty clear what people in the US are angry about – their unemployment rate is...
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Quick link: New OECD inequality report
The OECD has released a new report on inequality. I haven’t had a chance to read it properly yet, but a few points that stand out are: From the mid-1980s to the late-2000s, the incomes of the top...
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Has Joe Hockey promised the end of the Australian safety net?
Joe Hockey has called for an “end to the age of entitlement”. He added on Lateline that “we need to compare ourselves with our Asian neighbours where the entitlements programs of the state are far less...
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Cut and paste
The Australian editorial, 11 January 2013: Australia’s welfare system is crying out for comprehensive reform… Is it fair that a couple with one child and a household income of $160,000 a year receives...
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How does Australia’s minimum wage compare?
Today, Barack Obama announced his intention to push for the US federal minimum wage to be lifted to $9 per hour by 2015, and then indexed to inflation. In case anyone is interested in how the...
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Why have a flat tax on super?
I can understand why libertarians might favour a flat tax on superannuation contributions and on ordinary income. I disagree vehemently with that position, but it’s logically coherent to me....
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Labour’s shrinking share
How would we know if we were having a wages breakout? Back in the 70s, there was a period in which wages rose faster than productivity, leaving a situation that some economists dubbed a “real wage...
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Myths of the moocher class in Australia
David Uren’s piece in the Australian today has some pretty eye-catching figures: …nobody starts to pay tax until their earnings exceed $18,200, but the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that 60 per...
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What is the typical Australian’s income in 2013?
A couple of years ago, the government changed the rules so that families on $150 000 a year or more wouldn’t be eligible to receive family payments. There were the predictable cries of ‘class warfare’,...
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Earnings inequality: how much is enough?
I have a new post at the Chifley Research Centre on the recent decision to hold the real minimum wage constant. Please read it!
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Middle class welfare: a presentation
I delivered a short presentation recently at an event organised by Victorian Progress on the topic ‘Middle class welfare: What’s all the fuss about’. I spoke alongside David Hetherington of Per Capita...
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The inadequacy of Newstart
When the Hawke Government came to power in March 1983, the unemployment benefit for a single adult was worth $192 in today’s dollars. By the time Labor left office in 1996, it had lifted the real...
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