What's Clive Hamilton's social credit score?

How did British Columbia go from one of Canada’s worst economies to one of its best and increase personal incomes by 20% in real terms? You guessed it – repealing red tape:

To get the full story of how bad Australia’s $176 billion per year red tape problem is, read the IPA’s report from 2017.

Elites are in uproar over revelations Cambridge Analytica provided the Trump campaign with the Facebook data of 270,000 people. Lost in this uproar is that all parties acted completely legally. I may be 24, but I’m old enough to remember when Obama did the exact same thing and was called innovative.

Liberty Victoria gave this year’s Young Voltaire Award for work on freedom of speech to…Yassmin Abdel-Magied. As Simon Breheny told The Australian on Tuesday, “I’m struggling to recall anything Ms Abdel-Magied has done to defend freedom of speech.” Still, it’s better than last year when they gave the Voltaire Award to Gillian Triggs.

If only that were the worst story about freedom of speech in the West this week. Scottish YouTube user Count Dankula was convicted on Tuesday of a hate crime for posting a distasteful YouTube video of his dog giving Nazi salutes two years ago. Ricky Gervais rushed to the defence of free speech, and it’s good to see a comedian do so because John Cleese would be in hot water in 2018.

And look at this chilling thread from the Scottish Police Department’s Twitter account last week where they blatantly threaten to use people’s tweets against them in the future.

Many of the episodes in the Netflix series Black Mirror have provided a terrifying look into suffocating technological dystopia – so it’s no surprise that the Chinese government is the first to use a plotline for its policies. They have announced a mandatory “social credit score” based on behaviour and social interactions – didn’t they see the second half of the episode?

If you couldn’t get a ticket to see Professor Robert Tombs’ during his tour with the IPA, you’re in luck! We’re about to release an hour long interview he gave to Dr Bella d’Abrera. Watch a teaser here.

Australia may have a terrible red tape problem, but spare a thought for Constantin Reliu in Romania. After being declared dead by the government, Reliu failed to overturn the decision despite appearing in court to confirm he was alive.

Featuring Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, and Daniel Wild, Institute of Public Affairs

“When you’re Secretary of State you should have some idea of what American diplomacy should achieve. And Tillerson got fired because he opposed President Trump on pretty much every major policy position.”

– Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal Editorial Board

Article of the week:

Former Greens candidate Professor Clive Hamilton wrote this great article (I know!) in The Age after Tim Soutphommasane went after his latest book on the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in Australia for being racist. Hamilton explains how identity politics is suffocating open discussion.

IPA Staff Pick:

Each week an IPA staff member shares what they have enjoyed recently. Today: Gideon Rozner

In this 28 minute interview released late last year, the American Enterprise Institute spoke to former Wall Street banker Chris Arnade who spent several years of travelling around the United States’ ‘forgotten communities’. Arnade’s observations are reminiscent of JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy – the ruined landscapes of ‘middle America’, hollowed out by joblessness, welfare dependency, drug addiction and existential despair.

Here’s what else the IPA said this week:

Sinclair Davidson, Labor’s tax plan is a raid on every Australian’s super fund – The Age
Simon Breheny, Judges who want to politicise the bench should run for office – The Australian
Daniel Wild, SA Labor’s passion for renewable energy is madness – The Australian
Georgina Downer, UK is right to take a stand against Putin’s aggression – Herald Sun
Matthew Lesh, Council cops rubbishing for going through the bins – IPA Media Coverage
Gideon Rozner, Why the ACTU hates the sharing economy – IPA TV

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