These two graphs from a new report called ‘Why Australians are struggling to get ahead‘, released this week by our friends at the Menzies Research Centre, encapsulate Australia’s budget predicament:
On Saturday night, millions around the world turned off their lights for Earth Hour, while 1.3 billion people globally live in darkness permanently. Bjorn Lomborg dismantled Earth Hour in USA Today on Friday.
Speaking of fading environmentalist fads, the trailer for the sequel to Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth was released this week. No discussion of Al Gore would be complete without Anthony Watts’ top 10 reasons why Al Gore was wrong on Watts Up With That? from January 2016 (my favourite is number 6, about the polar bears).
If you were still unsure what fake news is, here’s a cracking example. The New York Times breathlessly reported that nearly 40% of US colleges reported a drop in international student applications as a result of the “Trump Effect“. They failed to mention (as pointed out by Tyler Cowen in this blistering post) that 35% of colleges reported an increase, and 26% reported no change.
The poorest 20% of people in Utah are more likely to move up to the richest 20% than in any other state in America. Why? Because of Utah’s small government and big civil society – this in-depth 4,700 word piece by Megan McArdle in Bloomberg on Tuesday is fascinating.
In Perth on 6 April and Adelaide on 11 April, the IPA’s CD Kemp Fellow Andrew Shearer will be delivering lectures on securing Australian freedom and values. Andrew is also a Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC and was formerly National Security Adviser to Prime Ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott. Details here.
If you haven’t already, subscribe to The Young IPA Podcast which I host with James Bolt. It’s available on iTunes and soundcloud – the latest episode features 18C, travel expenses, Beyonce and an interview with the IPA’s Simon Breheny.
Article of the week:
Friedrich Hayek died 25 years ago last week. Matt Ridley’s wonderful piece in CapX last Thursday captures brilliantly Hayek’s egalitarian notion that human knowledge is a collective phenomenon.
IPA Staff Pick:
Each week an IPA staff member shares what they have enjoyed recently. Today: Dr Bella d’Abrera
Read this. It will make you feel optimistic. In the week that Article 50 was invoked, Spiked published the accounts of a dozen prominent Brexit activists on why Brexit will be brilliant.
Here’s what else the IPA said this week:
- Sinclair Davidson and Chris Berg, Diverted profits tax will go nowhere – The Australian Financial Review
- John Roskam, 18C decision could mark the end of the beginning for PM Malcolm Turnbull – The Australian Financial Review
- Georgina Downer, British divorce will be Australia’s gain – The Daily Telegraph
