The days of rapid economic growth are long gone. New analysis helps explain what has changed.
- Professor, Centre of Policy Studies and the Impact Project, Victoria University
The changes announced by the prime minister won’t help with supply and are poorly targeted.
The last cut in the fuel excise cost $5 billion. A temporary tax on gas exports could provide more targeted relief for households.
If state and federal governments replaced inefficient taxes with better designed ones, households would be at least $900 better off.
As the US winds back some of its highest tariff threats, Australia should see a small benefit.
The losses under Trump’s original tariff plan would have been significant. But even after the latest policy U-turn, the costs to the US will still be high.
Stamp duty costs Victorians about $9 billion a year. There are more efficient ways to tax property.
For the Commonwealth, the best measure is rent assistance. For the states, it’s a mix of two-thirds first homebuyer grants and one-third stamp duty discounts.
Economists have long advocated replacing stamp duty with land tax. We find that the implications for housing prices depends on whether you own a house or an apartment.
At the margin, more compulsory super will mean less equity in homes and more borrowing for homes. Australia already has one of the world’s highest household debt ratios.
China cutting coal imports from Australia by 25% would equate to every Australian having $24 less to spend a year.
Even if policies could be found to bind new immigrants to regional areas, workers’ movements would continue to weaken the long-run impact on regional populations and economies.
What critics of the plan to use superannuation for housing miss is that Australia’s super system already channels a significant proportion of retirement savings into housing.
The London Olympic Games are about to begin. There will be much fierce competition as contestants “go for gold”. That London is the host city for the 2012 Summer Olympics involved another sort of competition…
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