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• Economic Policy

CIS is guided by the philosophy of global free markets and individual responsibility. Our economic policy research centres on ideas for continuing reform that will strengthen Australia’s economic independence and prosperity, and challenge the over-reach of big government.

Setting the Record Straight: Free Trade and the WTO
David RobertsonSeptember 4, 2000IA15

By allowing social issues into the WTO agenda using tenuous links to trade policy, the...

Gambles with the Economic Constitution: The Reregulation of Labour in New Zealand
Wolfgang KasperAugust 29, 2000PM47

The proposed Employment Relations Bill will prove costly for New Zealand citizens and workers. This...

Stop Subsidising a Failure
August 9, 2000The Australian Financial Review

John Quiggin is a well- known microeconomic reform sceptic, and in these pages last week...

Behavioural Poverty
Lucy SullivanApril 9, 2000PM45

The welfare debate is bedeviled by the failure to distinguish behavioral from financial poverty. The...

Building Prosperity: Australia’s Future as a Global Player
Wolfgang KasperMarch 2, 2000SP03

Australia has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past quarter century. One only has to...

The End of Chaos? Global Markets in the Information Era
November 11, 1999OP72

The Sixteenth Annual John Bonython Lecture delivered by Jerry Jordan The 16th Annual John Bonython...

Humankind and the infinite resource base
Marian L. TupyApril 2, 2026OP212

This paper examines the human ability to expand our resource base into infinity. Given human...

Why We Should Not Increase Capital Gains Tax
Robert CarlingMarch 11, 2026PP64
Debate about capital gains tax rarely occurs in isolation. It typically emerges during periods of...
10 CGT Myths Busted
Robert CarlingMarch 11, 2026IA155

The criticisms and characterisation of the 50% capital gains tax discount over many years have...

Growth that Builds: Beyond the immigration blame game 
Marian L. TupyMarch 5, 2026PP63
This paper argues that Australia’s housing crisis is primarily a supply failure, not simply a...
Reform of Heritage Legislation
Peter TulipFebruary 26, 2026PP62

Introduction Several states have recently overhauled their planning legislation. However, the flaws in their heritage...

Hours, Not Dollars: Rethinking the cost-of-living debate 
Marian L. TupyFebruary 23, 2026AP102

Executive Summary Public debate about the ‘cost-of-living crisis’ often confuses nominal price increases with declining...

Saluting the rights and ignoring the risks for the homeless
Carlos d’AbreraDecember 22, 2018QUADRANT

  Lendlease Property has announced that part of the proceeds from the sale of every...

What should we do with the government surplus?
Eugenie JosephDecember 21, 2018The Guardian

Should we raise Newstart? Pay Aboriginal people some rent for their land? Or bank it?...

Don’t spend the surplus
Eugenie JosephDecember 20, 2018THE GUARDIAN

  Resist the urge for any couch-bouncing about the government’s expected surplus from a boom...

Winners and losers of 2018
Simon CowanDecember 18, 2018SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Is it possible to make sense of a tumultuous year in Australia politics (as if...

Ending homelessness demands real solutions
Carlos d’AbreraDecember 14, 2018Ideas@TheCentre

It’s more than a year since the infamous Martin Place tent city was dismantled, but...

Please, tech giants … take over my life
Monica WilkieDecember 14, 2018Ideas@TheCentre

The ACCC this week released an alarming report into tech companies and digital giants, recommending...

“The 50% discount is unfair” and other CGT myths | Robert Carling & Michael Stutchbury
Robert Carling, Michael StutchburyMarch 11, 2026

The criticisms and characterization of the 50% capital gains tax discount over many years have...

The Case for Optimism: More People, More Ideas, More Wealth | Marian Tupy
Marian L. Tupy, Michael StutchburyMarch 6, 2026

Marian Tupy — editor of HumanProgress.org, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, and co-author of...

Old buildings and the housing crisis with Peter Tulip
Peter TulipMarch 4, 2026

Peter Tulip explains how several states have recently overhauled their planning legislation. However, the flaws...

Angus Taylor at CIS: Economic Reform, Immigration, and Australia’s Cost of Living Crisis
Angus Taylor, Michael StutchburyFebruary 19, 2026

Speaking at his first address outside Canberra since being elected Leader of the Opposition by...

Reflecting Back: John Howard and Alexander Downer on Power, Alliances and Australia
John Howard OM AC, Alexander DownerFebruary 6, 2026

Alexander Downer and former Prime Minister John Howard join author Tony Parkinson and CIS Executive...

‘NIMBYism is a cancer’: Bragg outlines housing policy vision with Peter Tulip & Michael Stutchbury
Andrew Bragg, Peter Tulip, Michael StutchburyDecember 12, 2025

Senator Andrew Bragg and economist Peter Tulip join Michael Stutchbury for a wide-ranging conversation on...

Submission to Senate Inquiry into Illegal Tobacco Crisis in Australia
Michael StutchburyJanuary 15, 2026
The federal government should pause increases in tobacco excise to weaken the profit of the...
Submission to Senate Education and Employment References Committee
Michael Wu October 22, 2025CIS

Despite good intentions, Australia’s Early Childhood Education and Care system has expanded well beyond its...

Submission to Productivity Commission’s Investing in cheaper, cleaner energy and the net zero transformation Interim Report
September 15, 2025

The Productivity Commission’s statement that careful emissions reduction policy design will enable gains in productivity...

Submission to Heritage NSW
Peter TulipJuly 18, 2025CIS

This submission argues that NSW’s heritage legislation has serious flaws. In particular, costs of listing...

Submission to Victorian Legislative Council Select Committee Inquiry
Peter TulipMay 5, 2025CIS

Victoria Planning Provisions Amendments VC257, VC267 and VC274: Submission to Victorian Legislative Council Select Committee...

Submission to the Inquiry into financial regulation and home ownership
Peter TulipOctober 15, 2024
Regulation of the financial system is needed to protect depositors and avoid financial crises. However,...
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