Tag Archive for 'policy process'

Fiscal stimulus: Eight economists and a few politicians

Published
by
Mark
1 year, 3 months ago
in Climate change, Economics, Environment, Industrial Relations, Markets, Middle East, Policy and Sociology
. 11 Comments

Picking up on Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens’ remarks about “borrowing to invest” and not being afraid of a deficit if there are good policy outcomes to be had, eight prominent economists (including a couple of blogging ones) have written an open letter to Kevin Rudd making suggestions for a further fiscal stimulus under three headings of policy – Superannuation flexibility, Building the nation and Preparing for climate change. The text is here at Troppo (one of the authors is Nicholas Gruen).

There’s been a bit of press coverage this morning, and no doubt it’s a worthy thing to stimulate debate by proposing substantive policy measures rather than just advancing critique. It may be an even worthier thing to shift the terms of the debate, regardless of the merits of the proposed policy directions. We don’t see enough of this sort of initiative.

But I do wonder if the economists stop and think about the political feasibibility of their proposals.

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Pension review paper prompts calls for immediate increase

Published
by
Mark
1 year, 7 months ago
in Disability, Economics, Government, Policy, Politics and Poverty
. 83 Comments

Unsurprisingly, the release of the government’s discussion paper on the pension system has prompted calls for immediate action. Perhaps the opposition were all waiting for Godot Costello somewhere because The Greens appear to have been first out of the starting block, with Senator Rachel Siewert calling for an instant $30 increase and damning “yet another review”.

The discussion paper emphasises the fact that 77% of Australians over 65 rely to greater or lesser degree on income support. It also highlights the fact that on current projections, the percentage of the population over 65 will rise from 13% now to 25% by 2047. Few aged pensioners currently supplement their income with paid work, but that can be expected to increase, and there may also be debates about the age cut-in as the labour supply situation alters and health outcomes improve. Because the income support system costs 6.8% of GDP, its sustainability is very relevant, and increases are also very expensive because of the very large number of recipients. The paper also considers those on Disability Support and Carer pensions, where the issues are different for many – with fewer having substantial assets and more receiving some income from paid work.

Continue reading ‘Pension review paper prompts calls for immediate increase’