Recent publications
Russia and the parable of the rear gunner
John Roskam reviews The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the end of the Cold War by James Mann (Viking, 2009, 396 pages) These days Ronald Reagan's leadership style has been given a name and there are whole books written about it. It's...
Unbinding Book Barriers: Why Australia should scrap parallel import restrictions on books
The Productivity Commission is considering whether to liberalise Australia's parallel import restrictions for books. Unbinding Book Barriers finds that prices of books could fall by more than 30 per cent, without harming authors, Australian...
Tim Winton wrong: new study finds books could be 30 per cent cheaper without harming Australian authors & stories
"Books could be 32 per cent cheaper if Australia scrapped import restrictions", Tim Wilson, Director of the Intellectual Property and Free Trade Unit at the Institute of Public Affairs said today. Removing parallel import restrictions will reduce...
Over-ruled: How excessive regulation and legislation is holding back Western Australia
Western Australia has developed a reputation as the most over-regulated Australian state. Past Western Australian governments have been reluctant to introduce the basic regulatory review processes found in other states. While the Barnett...
WA regulation growing faster than any other state
Western Australian governments have increased the regulatory burden on the state's economy more rapidly than any other state, finds a major new report released today by the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation and Institute of Public Affairs as a...
Are retail sales well above expectations?
Controversial bestselling book on climate change to be launched in Melbourne
Heaven + Earth - Global Warming: The Missing Science, a new book by Professor Ian Plimer about climate change, will be launched at the Hotel Windsor in Melbourne by the Institute of Public Affairs and Connor Court Publishing.
State Finances at the Crossroads: The states' budget problem and what to do about it
The economic and fiscal performance of the states has a significant impact on Australia's economic fortunes now and in the future. With taxing, spending and financial management policies and strategies at its disposal, state activities have a...
States threaten national recovery with profligate spending
New research by the Institute of Public Affairs, Australia's leading free market think tank, shows that growing state budget deficits and debt will impair Australia's capacity to exit the recession quickly.
ETS should be scrapped, not delayed
"While a delay is welcome, the ETS should be scrapped entirely," said John Roskam of the Institute of Public Affairs, a free market think tank. Kevin Rudd announced today that the government's ETS - effectively a tax on energy - is to be postponed...