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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.

Infrastructure, not entitlement, needed to boost productivity
Greg LindsayJuly 25, 2013The Australian Financial Review

Australia has a productivity problem. In the past decade, multi-factor productivity has declined by 5...

Policy conflict on jobs for disabled
Andrew BakerJuly 22, 2013The Australian Financial Review
Workplace rights taken to the extreme
Alexander PhilipatosJuly 19, 2013

When the Fair Work Act was unveiled it took a while for the effects of...

Seizing a Sino free trade moment
Stephen KirchnerJuly 16, 2013Business Spectator

Newly re-installed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has declared he wants a free trade agreement with...

Smaller government is vital for business growth
Simon CowanJuly 16, 2013The West Australian

Australia is at risk of waking up from the mining boom with nothing to show...

Should teenaged shop workers receive a pay rise?
Alexander PhilipatosJuly 12, 2013The Drum

The retail industry's tough run is about to get a whole lot tougher. The Shop,...

Wages and Welfare: the failing symbiosis
P.A. McGavinFebruary 1, 1992PM21

Labour-market regulations and welfare programs are significant features of Australia’s economic and social fabric. Many...

Economic 92
Tim RileyDecember 21, 1991SP1992
Liberating Labour: The Case for Freedom of Contract in Labour Relations
Michael JamesAugust 5, 1991OP36

Although the case against centralised wage-fixing has won increasing support in recent years, many reservations...

Dismantling Socialism: A Preliminary Report
Vaclav KlausAugust 5, 1991OP35

In the eighth John Bonython Lecture, Václav Klaus, Finance Minister of Czechoslovakia, gives an account...

Contestable Funding: A New Deal for Research and Development in New Zealand
Veronica JacobsenJuly 1, 1991PM19

One of the first substantive measures of public sector reform undertaken by the 1984-1990 Labour...

The Market Process and Environmental Amenities
Terry L. AndersonMay 6, 1991OP34

Most observers believe that free markets self-evidently harm the environment, and that the only available...

Subsidies, safety nets and stagnation: Australia’s new economic model
Michael StutchburyApril 11, 2026AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Protecting one industry imposes a burden on the competitive sectors that actually prop up our...
The mental health system may be making us sicker
Steven SchwartzApril 6, 2026CANBERRA TIMES

Australia has a mental health crisis, but not the one we think. Despite decades of...

Housing negative gearing tax
Reducing the discount would likely not have any lasting impact in lowering house prices
Robert Carling, Michael StutchburyMarch 21, 2026CANBERRA TIMES

Anyone watching the smoke signals from Canberra knows that moves are afoot to try and...

Alarm bells ringing on more interest rate pain
Michael StutchburyMarch 18, 2026DAILY TELEGRAPH
Australians were losing faith that the combination of Labor’s economic policies and the RBA monetary...
Labor’s capital gains tax myths need busting
Robert CarlingMarch 11, 2026DAILY TELEGRAPH

Labor has long held an axe over the capital gains tax 50% discount and negative...

Measuring affordability in time, not dollars paints a different inflation picture
Marian L. TupyMarch 9, 2026CANBERRA TIMES

Even before new Middle East conflict sparked concern about petrol prices, Australia’s latest CPI release...

“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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