| | Wikileaks, asylum seekers, and the race for the White House, The Drum, ABC TV, 22 December 2011
Discussion of compromise over the processing of asylum seekers, the Wikileaks case and an update on the race for the White House. With Per Capita's... 
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| | Vaclav Havel: a true democrat, Online Opinion, 23 December 2011
"People, your government has returned to you!"
With these words, Vaclav Havel closed his inauguration speech as President of Czechoslovakia on New...
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| | Europe, interest rates and Christmas spending, Life Matters, Radio National, 12 December 2011
The Two Economists, David Hetherington from progressive think tank Per Capita and Oliver Hartwich from the Centre for Independent Studies, look at...
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| | Pysmatic ploy fails to steal the show, The Australian, 3 December 2011
The party conference is one of the few forums where Labor leaders get to practice their formal oratory. These occasions are rituals; a prose poem in...
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| | All a bit Mickey Mouse, The Australian, 3 December 2011
How is multiculturalism different from cosmopolitanism?
There is something undeniably laudable in the lofty aspirations of the...
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| | The Australian Labor party finds a new dynamic, Social Democracy Observer, 1 December 2011
Labor’s policy implementation fulfils its promise of decision and delivery, but struggles to convince the electorate of its values
Twelve...
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| | Government by nerds one step from tyranny, The Australian, 19 November 2011
It is like Revenge of the Nerds, European style: the technocrats are now in charge.
Well, at least they are in Greece and Italy, where...
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| | Uranium, euthanasia and same sex marriage, The Drum, ABC TV, 15 November 2011
Discussion of the lifting the ban on selling uranium to India, same sex marriage, and euthanasia. With Per Capita's David Hetherington, economist...
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| | Role of a national flagship, The Australian, 11 November 2011
If a company can be considered a strategic national asset, should it be responsible to people in addition to its shareholders?
There can be...
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| | The rise and fall of the 'free market', 10 November 2011
Ideas, like fashion, move in waves. A big idea will form, expand, dominate, and fade. Along the way it will accrue adherents and opponents, leaving...
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| | Battle of the think tanks, The Sun Herald, 6 November 2011
The last century has seen the rise and fall of communism, fascism, andsocialism.
Democracy has proven more enduring, still expanding if not...
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| | Clout and the many faces of control, The Australian, 29 October 2011
What is the difference between power and influence?
IT is common these days to modify any usage of the word power. Political scientists talk...
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| | Pokies reform and the European debt crisis, The Drum, ABC TV, 27 October 2011
Discussion of the proposed poker machines reforms and the European debt crisis, with Per Capita's David Hetherington, Julia Baird from ABC Radio...
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| | Go-to man the only option for national president, The Australian, 25 October 2011
If the reforms proposed by Julia Gillard are adopted at Labor's national conference in December, the party will have a single national president with...
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| | The widening gap, Life Matters, Radio National, 24 October 2011
The Two Economists, Oliver Hartwich from the Centre for Independent Studies and David Hetherington from progressive think tank Per Capita discuss the...
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| | Question of our heritage, The Australian, 22 October 2011
Given the Queen's arrival this week, it is hard not to reflect on the question of a republic. Not that there is any prospect of Australia becoming a...
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| | Julia Gillard’s short-lived carbon tax victory, Social Democracy Observer, 19 October 2011
Carbon legislation breakthrough provides a rare spot of respite in an ever-increasingly tough year for Australia’s minority Labor government
At...
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| | Long journey to a civilised society, The Australian, 15 October 2011
Every civilisation has its definition of progress. Whether we are talking about the ancient Greeks or the Romans, or about teachings in the Confucian...
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| | No perfect number for pals, The Australian, 8 October 2011
There have been few philosophers who have written with as much unabashed pessimism as Arthur Schopenhauer. This was a figure, after all, who famously...
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| | Bad leaders set the tone for the rest of us, The Australian, 1 October 2011
To what extent can politics affect social cohesion?
Those of us who observe Australian politics could once console ourselves in our moments...
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| | The premiers v the people, The Australian Financial Review, 24 September 2011
In his article on the funding for disability services, Anthony Sibillin from The Australian Financial Review quoted David...
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| | Frailty, thy name is human, The Australian, 24 September 2011
What role should psychology play in philosophy?
Earlier this year I attended a public forum and mingled with other participants over...
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| | The Drum, ABC TV, 20 September 2011
Discussion of asylum seekers, workplace relations, state education, taxing the rich in the US, and italy's credit downgrade. With Per Capita's...
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| | Strong support for mining tax, survey shows, The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 September 2011
The majority of Australians support the idea of a mining tax, with supporters outnumbering opponents almost two to one, according to a survey to be...
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| | Survey reveals public attitudes toward carbon tax, Radio National Breakfast, 19 September 2011
We know that miners and much of heavy industry are opposed to the Gillard government's proposed mining and carbon taxes -- but what about public...
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| | Think tank finds Australia a low-tax nation, ABC NewsRadio Mornings, 19 September 2011
David Hetherington talks to John Barron about the Per Capita Tax Survey 2011.
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| | Rogue traders and central bankers, Life Matters, Radio National, 19 September 2011
The Two Economists, Oliver Hartwich from the Centre for Independent Studies and David Hetherington from progressive think tank Per Capita, consider...
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| | All at sea with Julia Gillard, Social Democracy Observer, 16 September 2011
Around the world, parties of the centre-left are struggling to articulate their values amidst feelings of fear and uncertainty. It is no different...
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| | Wealthy show they care, too, The Australian, 17 September 2011
Are there any good reasons to allow tax breaks for the super rich?
Something strange is happening among the super rich.
It is most...
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| | ALP must atone for asylum-seeker sins, The Australian, 12 September 2011
Where were you when the first jet hit the North Tower? I'll never forget where I was: listening to Kim Beazley speaking to an outer-suburban Labor...
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| | The goal is to let more refugees settle, The Australian, 10 September 2011
Is it unethical to have offshore processing of asylum-seekers?
The relationship between ethics and politics is a difficult one at the best...
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| | Incomes and productivity are up, so why do we feel so low?, The Australian, 10 September 2011
In his article on the cost of living issues, Tom Dusevic from The Australian quoted Tim Soutphommasane's
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| | The Drum, ABC TV, 7 September 2011
Discussion of asylum seekers, the cost of living, and At Home With Julia, with Per Capita's Tim Soutphommasane, former Liberal MP Ross...
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| | Cost of living claims undermined by ABS report, The World Today, ABC Radio, 7 September 2011
Tim talks to Lexi Metherell about cost of living in Australia.
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| | Spending survey busts struggling families myth, ABC News, 7 September 2011
Claims that many Australians are doing it tough and households are being weighed down by the soaring cost of living no longer match up with the...
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| | When a well-off nation cries poor, The Australian, 3 September 2011
Political debate during the past 12 months has been dominated by the carbon tax. But the terms of the debate indicate that another issue has been...
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| | Our nation of whingers, The Weekend Australian Financial Review, 3-4 September 2011
In her Perspective article on the Weekend Financial Review, Dierdre Macken highlighted Tim Soutphommasane's new report,
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| | Measuring progress, Life Matters, Radio National, 2 September 2011
Per Capita's Tim Soutphommasane talks to Richard Aedy, Sue Taylor from the ABS and Jessica Irvine, Fairfax Economics Correspondent, about the ABS's...
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| | $15 tax levy to fund disability insurance, The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 August 2011
Australians would pay an average $15 a week to fund a national disability insurance scheme under a new proposal to be released today.
The 1.3 per...
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| | The real cost of tax cuts, The Australian Financial Review, 31 August 2011
Anthony Sibillin's article in the Australian Financial Review yesterday highlighted Per Capita's
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| | Manufacturing Sector Under Pressure, Inside Business, ABC TV, 28 August 2011
Per Capita Director Anthony Kitchener talks to Stephen Letts about the manufacturing sector in Australia.
To see the program, click on the above...
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| | Tax levy 'the best way to fund any disability scheme', says think tank Per Capita, The Australian, 29 August 2011
Australians should pay the $6.5 billion a year needed for a national disability insurance scheme through a 1.3 per cent disability levy on top of...
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| | We're good some ways, The Australian, 27 August 2011
Is it worthwhile to aspire to virtue if this goal is unattainable?
There are some words that have limited appeal outside the company of...
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| | The Drum, ABC TV, 25 August 2011
Discussion of the Craig Thomson affair, Rick Perry's rise to the top of the Republican presidential hopefuls and KFC's decision to ban toys, with Per...
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| | steel, stirling and stuttering world economies, Life Matters, Radio National, 24 August 2011
The high Australian dollar has put added pressure on the manufacturing sector.
This week Bluescope Steel operating out of the Illawarra region of...
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| | Is the census redundant?, Online Opinion, 23 August 2011
The 2011 census night has been and gone, and brought with it considerable discussion in the media about its value. How are the questions devised? How...
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| | Religion is not a state obligation, The Australian, 20 August 2011
Should the federal government be funding school chaplains in state schools?
It is assumed a liberal democracy must erect a "wall of...
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| | Anarchy is a law unto itself, The Australian, 13 August 2011
Is there a political obligation to obey the law?
Events in England this past week bring to mind that old starting point of political...
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| | The Drum, ABC TV, 10 August 2011
Discussion of the national disability insurance scheme, the climate change message, the riots in the UK, with Per Capita's David Hetherington, Mark...
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| | Danger in toxic discourse, The Australian, 6 August 2011
Do we take our democracy for granted?
Two weeks ago I noticed a billboard advertisement not far from where I live. It resembled a public notice...
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| | We have got a lot right, The Australian Financial Review, 2 August 2011 2 Aug 2011
Three years after the world economy froze, you’d be forgiven for overlooking Australia’s sound economic fundamentals amid widespread hand-wringing...
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| | Time to publish or be damned, The Australian, 29 July 2011
Lots of punches are being thrown between Labor and News Limited, but it is shadow boxing. No one is talking about the real issue, which is a conflict...
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| | Pleasure in a job well done, The Australian, 30 July 2011
Do we undervalue working with our hands?
Matthew B. Crawford is an American philosopher. I don't know him, but we happen to share a good deal in...
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| | The end of consumerism?, Life Matters, Radio National, 19 July 2011
The two economists - Per Capita's David Hetherington and Oliver Hartwich from the Centre for Independent Studies - discuss the global financial...
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| | Dennis Glover on The Bolt Report, Channel Ten, 17 July 2011
Dennis Glover joins Tom Switzer, Editor of the Spectator, on the Bolt Report with Andrew Bolt to discuss the frantic carbon tax campaign.
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| | Hate mail leads to learning, The Australian, 16 July 2011
Opening my inbox is always an interesting exercise. As a columnist I receive a mix of correspondence. Some offer effusive praise. Some offer...
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| | Asylum and refugee politics torment Australian Labor, Social Democracy Observer, 13 July 2011
Asylum and refugee politics drives a wedge through the left’s core constituencies, opening the floor for a debate driven by fear and...
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| | The Drum, ABC TV, 12 July 2011
Discussion of the Murdoch phone hacking scandal, the carbon tax, and liquor labelling, with Per Capita's David Hetherington, Kerry Chikarovski and...
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| | Visionary of the big picture, The Australian, 9 July 2011
Few scholars these days dare to think big. Let us blame the logic of modern bureaucratic universities.
With academic administrators constantly...
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| | A compelling social experiment, The Australian, 2 July 2011
For the first time in a long time, there was required viewing on TV for me last week: the SBS program "Go Back To Where You Came From". A blend of...
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| | Newsmakers on ABC TV, 25 June 2011
Per Capita's Tim Soutphommasane and Kate Carnell join ABC's Jane Hutcheon to discuss the news of the week, including asylum seekers, Julia Gillard's...
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| | True liberals are at liberty to disagree, The Australian,25 June 2011
It is often unhelpful to describe something in Australia as liberal, at least without clarifying whether one means "liberal" or "Liberal".
There...
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| | The Drum, ABC TV, 23 June 2011
Discussion of the deal with NBN Co and Telstra, Lord Monckton's Nazi analogies, and Go back to where you came from, with Per Capita's Tim...
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| | The Drum, ABC TV, 22 June 2011
Discussion of the NT intervention, reforming Question Time, and carbon tax, with Per Capita's David Hetherington, plus Pru Goward MP and Imre...
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| | Greece and pricey bananas, Life Matters, Radio National, 21 June 2011
The two economists - Per Capita's David Hetherington and Oliver Hartwich from the Centre for Independent Studies - discuss Greece's economic...
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| | Should politicians also be idealists?, The Australian, 18 June 2011
Many of us right now are lamenting the health of our politics. I would count myself as one. The poor quality of political debate and public policy is...
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| | Solar yield beats BHP any time, The Australian Financial Review, 16 June 2011 16 Jun 2011
Is Ross Garnaut right to suggest that big business in Australia is anti-reform? Are we foregoing innovation opportunities because business has...
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| | Can honour and politics coexist?, The Australian,11 June 2011
Kevin Rudd has been appearing with noticeable frequency lately in the international press. Just this week, The New York Times featured an elegiac...
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| | The Drum, ABC TV, 6 June 2011
Discussion of the live cattle exports, the Malaysia solution and Bob Katter's new Australian Party, with Per Capita's David Hetherington, plus Adam...
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| | You can be a patriot and oppose this battle, The Australian, 10 June 2011
Last week marked the beginning of the end of Australia's military involvement in Afghanistan. The reason? Two prominent political commentators...
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| | The paradox of prosperity, 6 June 2011
Despite the booming economy, most Australians aren’t feeling so positive about Labor's recent spate of progressive political reforms
At the...
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| | Some poppies are taller than others, The Australian, 4 June 2011
Given our egalitarian spirit, we have never liked having social elites in our midst.
To borrow the words of Henry Lawson, Australians "call...
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| | Karl Bitar's leap to Crown Casino, Online Opinion, 1 June 2011
It’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry at the news that former Labor boss Karl Bitar is joining Crown Casino. The scriptwriters at the Simpsons...
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| | Dennis Glover on The Bolt Report, Channel Ten, 29 May 2011
Dennis Glover joins the Andrew Bolt on the Bolt Report with Niki Savva to discuss Turnbull and the Liberal Leadership.
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| | Political functionaries lose their tongues, The Australian, 28 May 2011
What would Roman scholar and statesman Cicero make of today's political oratory?
THE Roman statesman Cicero, arguably the greatest...
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| | Cost of living crisis? Life in Australia is better than ever, The Drum, 27 May 2011
Outside of my job as a think tank researcher I moonlight in the hospitality industry. In this line of work I have met many foreigners who have moved...
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| | Avoid the hysteria but reject sharia, The Australian, 21 May 2011
Must accepting multiculturalism also mean accommodating Islamic law?
Ponder for a moment the following. Given that we tolerate and even...
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| | Open the public purse to meet need, not greed, The Australian, 14 May 2011
Should a household with an income of $150,000 consider itself to be rich?
The treasurers and finance ministers of the world know better...
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| | The Drum, ABC TV, 16 May 2011
Discussion of reaction to the Budget, the equal pay ruling, and the Taliban embrace of Twitter, with Per Capita's Tim Soutphommasane, plus Bruce...
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| | Budget 2011: An overview with the Two Economists, Life Matters, Radio National, 11 May 2011
The two economists - Per Capita's David Hetherington and Oliver Hartwich from the Centre for Independent Studies - discuss the 2011 Federal...
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| | The Drum, ABC TV, 9 May 2011
Discussion of the "Malaysia solution", the Budget and the capture of Bin Laden, with Per Capita's David Hetherington, plus Jessica Brown from the...
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| | Revenge must be linked to justice, The Australian, 7 May 2011
Is the killing of Osama bin Laden a case of justice or revenge?
News of Osama bin Laden's death in Pakistan naturally prompted celebration...
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| | Wedding seen as just another spectacle, The Australian, 30 April 2011
Should republicans feel uncomfortable about enjoying a royal wedding?
When it came to the royal wedding last night, most of us would have...
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| | Sane minds know there's money to be made from green steel, The Australian Financial Review, 27 April 2011
The cries now emanating from the steel sector bring to mind Jean Baptiste Colbert's famous observation that “the art of taxation consists in so...
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| | Time has come to move on, The Australian, 23 April 2011
Was Gandhi right about forgiveness being something exercised only by the strong?
BY the time this makes it to print I will be in Ho Chi...
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| | Gillard boldly reignites Australia's climate debate, Social Democracy Observer, 18 April 2011
By announcing a tax on CO2 emmissions, Julia Gillard's Australian Labor Party has taken on the fight of its political life.
Finally, the...
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| | Bet on causing less harm, The Australian, 16 April 2011
What did the great philosophers say about gambling and restricting it?
Not all philosophers are opposed to gambling. In the case of Blaise...
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| | Our false cost of living crisis , The Drum, 20 April 2011
Australians are facing a cost of living crisis: prices are soaring and family budgets are being pushed to breaking point.
Leaders of both major...
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| | The British AV referendum, Guardian Focus podcast, 12 April 2011
On 5 May, voters in Britain will be asked to choose whether they wish to retain the first past the post voting system or switch to the alternative...
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| | The speed of the Australian Economy, Life Matters, Radio National, 7 April 2011
The two economists - Per Capita's David Hetherington and Oliver Hartwich from the Centre for Independent Studies - ask, how fragile is Australia's...
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| | The Drum, ABC TV, 4 April 2011
Discussion of the NSW election, Israel, and federal politics, with Per Capita's David Hetherington, plus Imre Saluzinsky, Litika Bourke, and...
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| | Power v common good, The Australian, 2 April 2011
Can we describe something as corruption if no laws have been broken?
It is not a happy time to be a member of the NSW Labor Party. Nor...
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| | The real lesson from NSW: stop trying to govern forever, Online Opinion, 31 March 2011
What can one say about the New South Wales Labor loss that hasn't already been said a thousand times? We know why they lost, which can be explained...
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| | Climate may demand some nuclear power, The Australian, 26 March 2011
Should we rule out nuclear power as a source of energy?
An earthquake, a tsunami, a nuclear crisis: something close to a perfect storm of...
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| | We should not let our anxieties kill friendship, The Australian, 19 March 2011
Is it wrong to begrudge a friend his or her success?
"Whenever a friend succeeds a little something in me dies." So wrote Gore Vidal, who...
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| | Government can win carbon tax debate, The Australian, 17 March 2011
The moral outrage over Julia Gillard's carbon tax is running white hot. The conservative commentators are up in arms. The masses are outraged,...
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| | Is the carbon tax a good idea?, interview with Gary Hardgrave on 4BC, 17 March 2011
Executive Director of Per Capita, David Hetherington, talks with Gary Hardgrave on 4BC about the Government's proposed carbon tax.
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| | Christchurch and Carbon Tax, Life Matters, Radio National, 10 March 2011
The two economists - Per Capita's David Hetherington and Oliver Hartwich from the Centre for Independent Studies - discuss the carbon tax, the...
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| | Marriage an institution ripe for privatisation, The Australian, 12 March 2011
Is there a philosophical basis for same-sex marriage?
A friend of mine recently attended a wedding in Melbourne. The champagne flowed and a...
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| | Stronger peace sprouts from native roots, The Australian, 5 March 2011
Does the world have a responsibility to protect Libyans from the Gaddafi regime?
I never thought I would compare American actor Charlie...
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| | Quality of life: what crisis?, Life Matters, Radio National, 28 February 2011
With recent discussion about the introduction of a flood levy and a carbon tax, fears of rising living costs and a reduced quality of life are...
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| | Too many politicians, not enough leaders, The Australian, 26 February 2011
Does Australian politics suffer from a crisis of quality?
It is easy to despair at the state of our politics. George Megalogenis put it...
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| | Great expectations lead to an age of anxiety, The Australian, 26 February 2011
Ratcheing concerns about the cost of living confirm one thing: we are living in an age of abundant anxiety.
For all that we may be enjoying...
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| | Per Capita TV: quality of life
Senior Project Leader at Per Capita, Tim Soutphommasane gives us an introduction to his new report: What Crisis? Wellbeing and the Australian...
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| | Home-grown values a multicultural triumph, The Australian, 19 February 2011
Is there genius in multiculturalism?
The southwest suburbs of Sydney aren't the most glamorous or salubrious of places in which to grow up.
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| | Vote for a sweeter weekly household budget, The Australian, 12 February 2011
It has become an iron law of Australian politics that leaders must pledge to ease the cost of living.
So it was last weekend when NSW Premier...
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| | Public intellectuals a real community benefit, The Australian, 12 February 2011
What place do academic intellectuals have in politics?
Not long ago I participated in a public forum in Melbourne, joining two academic historians...
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| | The Drum, ABC TV, 7 February 2011
Discussion of the flood levy, Tony Abbott, the Labor Review, minimum wage, multiculturalism and Indonesia. Hosted by Tim Palmer, with Per Capita's...
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| | Tapping Australia's community spirit in the year ahead, Social Democracy Observer, 1 February 2011
Julia Gillard is wrestling with a problem that would be the envy of her prime ministerial and presidential peers: how to manage the proceeds of the...
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| | The floods and beyond, Life Matters, Radio National, 1 February 2011
The two economists - Per Capita's David Hetherington and Oliver Hartwich from the Centre for Independent Studies - discuss the Federal Government's...
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| | The Drum, ABC TV, 31 January 2011
Discussion of Egypt, the floods and political staffers. Hosted by Tim Palmer, with Per Capita's David Hetherington, Tim Wilson from the Institute...
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| | Tiger mums not great for human children, The Australian, 29 January 2011
Have parents become too afraid of tough love?
Three years ago, journalist Lenore Skenazy wrote a column in The New York Sun about letting...
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| | The Drum, ABC TV, 26 January 2011
Discussion of mateship, multiculturalism, and Australia Day. Presented by Steve Cannane, with Per Capita's Tim Soutphommasane, ABC social media...
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| | Visit the burbs, and be surprised, The Australian, 13 January 2011
Social-Democrat parties have many problems at present, but perhaps the most serious is the lack of self-belief that results from their tendency to...
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| | Patriotism in Australia, Radio National Breakfast, 5 January 2011
Tim Soutphommasane, Senior Project Leader at Per Capita, and Julian Morrow discussed cricket and patriotism in Australia on Radio National Breakfast.
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| | Dennis Glover on The Bolt Report, Channel Ten, 29 May 2011
Dennis Glover joins the Andrew Bolt on the Bolt Report with Niki Savva to discuss Turnbull and the Liberal Leadership.
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| | An equal look-in for all, The Australian, 23 July 2011
It says something about our country that some of our most successful individuals come from the humblest of backgrounds or arrived here from foreign...
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