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Ross Gittins

Ross Gittins

Ross Gittins is the Economics Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers addresses a press conference after the economic summit.

One thing could bring a lasting boost to productivity, but there’s a risk

We need to unclog the pipes of the capitalist machine.

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I’ve changed my mind about red tape, but cutting it won’t solve everything

Streamlining regulation won’t be easily or quickly achieved, certainly not in a three-day roundtable.

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RBA gorvernor Michele Bullock has noted there’s nothing the central bank can do about productivity.

Want better productivity? Keep wages rising strongly

When you tolerate businesses fattening their profits by finding ways to keep their wage bill down, you’re helping them cut their own throats.

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Albanese is crying poor, but we’re losing billions a year from untaxed gas

In Norway, they tax their oil and gas industry heavily and give their kids free higher education. Here, we do the opposite.

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While businesses hope for a cut in the corporate tax rate at the economic roundtable, many just want tax simplified.

It’s official: A cut in company tax will deliver little benefit at best

We’re considering a hugely expensive cut in the rate of company tax in the belief that this will cause the size of real GDP to grow. Modelling tells a different story.

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Productivity Commission wants our big mining companies to pay more ‘rent’

There are many companies and individuals earning “economic rent” that we can’t do much about. The commission sees this as a problem.

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Illustration by Simon Letch

Roundtable will fix nothing unless we can all park our self-interest

Sadly, I’m not expecting much progress from the much-heralded economic roundtable. Why? Because our democracy has devolved into a self-interested fist-fight.

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Turns out chasing dollars and putting profits above everything else is just bad business.

Big business quick to veto productivity tax reform

The Business Council of Australia is unsurprisingly playing spoiler to any attempt by the federal government to improve our taxation system. It’s another sign of big business’ resistance to radical change.

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What if people just want better jobs, not more stuff?

What if, instead of pursuing an ever-higher material living standard, governments focused on improving workers’ job satisfaction? A good way to lose votes? I doubt it.

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We’re going to hear the results of lots of modelling exercises.

Roundtable warning: When they say ‘modelling’ grab your bulldust detector

We’re about to hear many worthies proposing we do more of this or that to improve the economy’s “productivity”.

  • Ross Gittins