… Just joking, this is the Greens

A reduction in the inequities in the current tax and transfer system, including but not limited to:

1. reform of the taxation of trusts, in order to reduce complexity and minimise tax avoidance;
2. removing subsidies for the extraction and consumption of fossil fuels;
3. redirecting funding from subsidising private health insurance towards direct public provision;
4. reforms to the taxation of superannuation to benefit lower income earners;
5. strengthening the progressivity of the income tax and transfer system across all income levels including by reducing effective marginal tax rates for low-income workers, and increasing the marginal tax rates on high-income earners; 
6. the implementation of a tax on dynastic wealth, targeted at those bequeathing or gifting large amounts;
7. the removal of tax exemptions for religious organisations that are not enjoyed by other charities and not-for-profit organisations;
8. securing the tax and transfer system against manipulation and evasion, to ensure that everyone pays their fair share;
9. a preference for taxation of income derived from capital instead of income derived from labour;
10. the implementation of a progressive wealth tax on large concentrations of wealth, including anti-avoidance measures; and
11. the implementation of a tax on company super-profits.

I’m not endorsing this point by point. Just saying that this looks like the kind of tax policy a serious social democratic party would come up with, and very unlike anything we can expect from the current Labor party

I’ve sent the MS of “The Economic Consequences of the Pandemic” off to Yale UP. Will consider bids for movie rights now.

Glasgow Calling

… But it’s a destination without a route. That’s the headline for my latest in The Conversation.

I always wondered how people could bear years of pointless slaughter in a Great War over nothing. Having seen how hardened people are to thousands of daily deaths from Covid, it seems if that’s just the way things are

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That’s the title of my latest piece in The Conversation. More soon

I gave up hope of getting much out of a Labor government when Albanese announced that he would implement Morrison’s top-end tax cuts, and it became clear that this meant abandoning most of the spending commitments Labor took to the 2019 election. But at least it seemed that Labor would be significantly better on climate policy. Now, that difference has been reduced to a minor point of semantics. Morrison has finally crabwalked his way to a 2050 net zero commitment. In deference to the sensitivities of the National Party, he refused to increase Australia’s 26-28 % emissions reduction target for 2030, while pointing out that the policies of state governments (both Liberal and Labor) would probably get us to 35 % with no action at the national level. Labor has yet to announce a 2030 target, but has already abandoned the 45 % target from 2019. So, it’s clear enough that the target will be indistunguishable from Morrison’s non-target, and will similarly imply no significant policy action.

More importantly, over the last week or so, Labor has acted to remove the remaining points of difference between the parties. Albanese backed Morrison’s refusal to join an agreement to reduce methane emissions. Then, Chris Bowen ruled out either a carbon tax or emissions trading scheme, and indicated Labor would continue the current governments’ voluntary policy, possibly with some minor adjustments.

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