A cleverly-designed auction can make sure strata-titled apartment blocks are only sold when all of the owners are happy. Tom Rabe/AAP

Evictions versus holdouts. How to painlessly dissolve a strata title

It’s not fair to evict people against their will. On the other hand, one holdout shouldn’t be able to derail the sale of an entire strata-titled apartment block. Now an international team has come up with an ingenious solution.
The abolition of royalties, as well as fluctuations in iron ore and coal prices, have had an effect on the mining tax’s capacity to generate revenue. AAP

Mining tax design is responsible for revenue shortfall

Why hasn’t the Minerals Resources Rent Tax (MRRT) produced significant revenue? The answer lies in a combination of basic features of the MRRT design, and the recent fluctuation in prices of iron ore and…
A behind-the-scenes subsidy is likely to stick around longer than a cash subsidy. bicyclemark/Flickr

As solar hot water gets axed, what is the logic in industry subsidies?

The sudden cessation of the Federal Government’s subsidies to solar hot water installations illustrates why subsidy-seekers mostly prefer industry assistance to come in hidden forms, rather than cash…
Stretch it out: calls for a Sovereign Wealth Fund are intensifying.

Is a sovereign wealth fund a good idea?

Calls to establish an Australian Sovereign Wealth Fund have intensified with the world’s biggest bond managers, Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco) calling on the Federal Government to manage for…
A ‘neutral’ tax on mining isn’t feasible. AAP

Taxing issues surround the economics of mining

In the ongoing debate around the resources tax, there has been little focus on the fundamental difficulties and complexities presented by a tax on profits in the resource-extraction industry. There are…

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