Flaccid Brains Were on Parade

Dr. Richard W. Rahn* recently introduced the concept of Flaccid Brains with these comments: “If government spending is growing faster than gross domestic product (GDP), can the resulting deficit problem be solved by: (A) Decreasing the rate of growth of government spending; (B) Increasing tax rates; (C) Decreasing the rate of growth of government spending and increasing tax rates? If your answered [...]

Thomas Jefferson’s Election Week Commentary

Our guest writer is Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826), the third President of the U.S. and principal author of The Declaration of Independence. After working on the Constitution, Jefferson was asked what form of government he was delivering. He is reported to have said, “Gentlemen, I give you a Republic, if you can keep it.” If [...]

Should we all become political?

We are often implored ‘not to be political’ when we approach policy subjects that affect our lives and livelihoods. Particularly business people are often requested to ’stay out of politics’. This would be a reasonable request if, ‘politics would stay out of business’. Most of us in business suffer the fatigue of being constantly under attack by new [...]

Earlier Governments Made Mistakes Too!

Much attention is now focused on the current catalogue of defective policy decisions by Australia’s Federal Government. July 4th marks the 13th anniversary of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announcing that they had sold off 167 tonnes of gold (2/3rd of Australia’s gold reserves – click here for a full report on the [...]

The RDT (Rudd Dud Tax) - an optimistic future and undisputable evidence that the royalty-based tax is beneficial to the mining industry and the economy

As Deputy P.M., Julia Gillard said; there is no need for Australia’s miners and Australians generally to fear the RDT (Rudd Dud Tax). This tax penalty will only affect successful companies still remaining in Australia. We should simply look at this new threat as an opportunity and enjoy it to the full. My late friend, Harry Browne, author [...]

The RDT (Rudd Dud Tax or RSPT - Resource Super Profits Tax or by whatever name it becomes infamous)

We normally avoid political controversies as we find economic and current issues provide us with enough challenge. However, as Australia’s Federal Government has declared war on Australia’s productive resource sector, and by doing so has inflicted immeasurable harm on Australia’s reputation as a safe haven for local and international investors and our skilled workforce, we now [...]

Canberra Needs History as a Compulsory Subject

Isn’t it strange that no-one in Kevin Rudd’s ‘control group’ appears to have studied history. If they had, I’m sure they would hesitate to take over the provision of ‘free and instant health care for all Australians’. That is exactly what has brought Greece and Italy to their knees as they pursued the fiction of ‘living at [...]

Australia - exporting our future?

Walking around the exhibit booths of Australian mining and exploration companies at the Hong Kong “Mines & Money” conference last week, sent me a strong signal. Perhaps 60 – 70% of Australia’s mineral exploration budgets are being spent outside of Australia. Much of it in quite harsh and remote countries. One could ask … “Are [...]

Another Giant Government Stuff-up!

So Australia’s Federal Government had to be seen to be doing something to counter the Global Financial Crisis. That’s understandable as is their ever-present desire to interfere in the affairs of its citizens, particularly if it can send us the bill for what is essentially a ‘vote buying’ exercise. Well guess what? They decided there would [...]

The trouble with government?

Perhaps government is too big? Too expensive? Perhaps too intrusive? These days they tap your phones and check your bank accounts (if you withdraw over a certain amount in cash, your bank, by law, has to ‘report your activity’ to Canberra). We all have mental images of what government actually is. I often think of [...]