Justin Pyvis

Taylor Swift is in town, and so is government spin about the huge economic benefits she brings. But once you account for leakages and opportunity costs, the net impacts are probably negative. Enjoy the show, but don’t buy the hype!

Here are a few short takes for you to chew over on the weekend, from the week’s happenings that probably didn’t need a full post. 1. Stepped on by stamp duty # Move over income tax, because the always-interesting folks at the e61 Institute released a note this week looking at another highly inefficient tax: stamp duty. According to the authors, it now costs the average city dweller five months of after-tax income just to move house. And yes, our old friend bracket creep is largely responsible:

Japan’s “lost decades” of low growth are due to its declining working-age population, not necessarily failed policies. With aging populations, policymakers in developed nations such as Australia will need to focus on right metrics, not just GDP growth, to craft effective policies.

Dick Smith wants to cap Australia’s population at 30 million over concerns about a lack of resources and housing costs. In doing so he falls for the ’lump of labour’ fallacy, and fails Econ 101: it’s poor planning, not immigrants, that erodes housing affordability in Australia.

Here are a few short takes for you to chew over on the weekend, from the week’s happenings that probably didn’t need a full post. 1. Confusing cause with effect # Former chair of the ACCC, Allan Fels, released his much anticipated report into “price gouging and unfair pricing practices” on Wednesday, and let’s just say it’s a good thing Fels has been out of public policy making for over 20 years.