Once there was a product so injurious to public health that it required special government legislation to deal with it. Government officials were convinced that fully informed consumers would make different choices, so they forced manufacturers to... Read more

 Australian exceptionalism is torn apart by the free market right in this stimulating collection of essays, writes Richard Allsop.   One might think that there are four basic camps on the topic of Australian exceptionalism. Firstly, people can... Read more

 Politicians yearning for a nostalgic return to glory days are failing modern America, according to a book reviewed by Daniel Wild.    Modern politics in America has a nostalgia problem. Americans and the politicians who represent them yearn... Read more

What would you do if one of al-Qaeda’s most feared, fanatical, and unpredictable leaders stops you in the street and accuses you of stealing? He has just seen you leave a building with a box containing ancient manuscripts that you legally own and... Read more

An influential economist wants to phase out paper money, writes John Hajek.    Suggesting that governments phase out cash is bound to rub some people up the wrong way—and not just the Pablo Escobars and John Gottis of the world, whose bread... Read more

  Uber and Airbnb are part of a wider market revolution changing the way the world does business, writes Evan Mulholland.  The last few decades have delivered us a monumental shift in how we receive goods and services. Disruption has... Read more

 Religious freedom is under threat from all sides, writes Aaron Lane.     ‘Regardless of whether Labor or Liberal wins the election, we still end up with a Catholic Prime Minister.’ You would think these were the words of a 1950s... Read more

 New technology can fix Australia’s ailing health system, but only if     To fix health care and human services – two government programs as egregiously expensive as they are important - we need to solve a basic property rights problem.... Read more

Australia’s wasteful criminal justice system needs a major overhaul, but we shouldn’t leave it to the bureaucrats, writes Andrew Bushnell     Australia’s criminal justice system is ineffective and wasteful, failing to protect the... Read more

Australia has a 21st century workforce labouring under a 19th century industrial relations system, writes Brett Hogan.     Better health, housing, communications, education and transport options allow more people to make more decisions for... Read more

The extraordinary complaints—now, after furious media attention, withdrawn—against Bill Leak for drawing a satirical political cartoon demonstrates why Australia’s most prominent anti-free speech law must be repealed. In October, The... Read more

The meaning of this US presidential election will be picked over for decades. But time is a luxury in politics. Australia’s political class is right now trying to draw some lessons from Donald Trump’s unexpected victory. Bill Shorten was... Read more