Peter Leeson in a new book explores the rational basis for bizarre cultural practices. How could plunging a person’s arms into a cauldron of boiling water be a relatively accurate indicator of guilt or innocence in medieval Europe? In his new... Read more

Are values back in vogue in foreign policy circles? Could it be that the years of cultural relativism of the Obama administration, aided and abetted by the United Nations and the European Union, are over? Will liberal democracies once again take a... Read more

You could be forgiven for thinking that a criminal’s treatment in 19th century Britain was one of oppression by their aristocratic rulers. That is the consensus among historians. But if we observe this period of history objectively and in detail,... Read more

The May 1968 protests in Paris were a turning point in the history of the West, that continue to have an impact today. Nearly eleven million students and workers were involved as France ground to a halt. The universities were closed, as was the... Read more

To see why the GST needs to be reformed, look no further than the comments made by state leaders during February’s Council of Australian Governments meeting. The Turnbull government’s offer to pay up to 45 per cent of public hospital funding... Read more

This column is a little different, as I thought I might tell you about the rock concert I went to in Melbourne back in March this year. It wasn’t actually a rock concert but it felt like one. The Melbourne Recital Centre (capacity 1,000) was sold... Read more

In this edition of the IPA Review we feature and salute two extraordinary individuals, two men who have a taken a stand against an apparent consensus, at significant risk to their careers, reputations, and most definitely any hopes they may have had... Read more

Niall Ferguson’s The Square and the Tower is a whirlwind journey few historians would attempt. From the House of Medici to September 11, the Reformation to World War II, the Enlightenment to Facebook, Ferguson’s sixty-chapter sweep through... Read more

This article first appeared in the May 2018 IPA Review. Professor Peter Ridd cannot fully express the beauty he finds in science, explaining that ‘If you can’t understand the mathematics behind physics, you won’t get it’. He admits to a... Read more

Professor Jordan Peterson is a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. He has posted thousands of hours of content on YouTube on subjects ranging from the psychological significance of the Bible, to political... Read more

A new book by John Edwards explores the political life and relationships of Australia’s 14th Prime Minister, John Curtin  (John Curtin’s War, Volume 1: The Coming of War in the Pacific, and Reinventing Australia) What Paul Keating said... Read more

Education in the West is a waste of time and money, argues Bryan Caplan in a confronting new book, reviewed by Vladimir ‘Zeev’ Vinokurov. (A PDF of this article appears here. It first appeared in the May 2018 edition of the IPA... Read more

This article first appeared in the May 2018 edition of the IPA Review. PDF available here. A recent university study found that public satisfaction with our democratic processes and public trust in the politicians we elect are at some of the... Read more

Morgan Begg reviews Keeping the Faith: The Battle for Australian Catholicism, by Fr James Grant. (this article first appeared in the May 2018 edition of the IPA Review. A PDF can be downloaded here). All religious establishments in the... Read more

This article first appeared in the May 2018 IPA Review. PDF version is here. With its push for corporate tax reforms, the Federal government is billing 2018 to be the year of the tax cut, but Australia’s tax system is so archaic, inefficient,... Read more

It’s hard to recall an Australian election in which the word ‘skills’ didn’t find its way into at least one of the major parties’ policy platforms. A vague mantra of ‘investing in skills’ is often wheeled out to give the appearance of... Read more