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This article was prepared by Professor R. Mathews of the Australian National University. It is based on a paper presented to the Public Forum on Company Taxation and Economic Recovery, Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, 14 November 1975. In this article, I propose to review the recommendations on company taxation which were made by the Committee of Inquiry into Inflation and Taxation, and to examine the comments which have been made on those recommendations since the Committee's Report was tabled in Parliament at the end of May. I am afraid that many of the comments — both favourable and unfavourable — have reacted to the conclusions reached by the Committee rather than the arguments used to support those conclusions, and have therefore been lacking in critical perception. It seems from the discussion that the nature and extent of the problems which the Committee identified are not yet fully understood. Many people in both business and government still seem to believe that Australia's economic recovery depends merely on the restoration of business confidence, and that this can be achieved by stimulating consumer demand, reducing rates of taxation and providing incentives to business investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a revised version of a paper given by R.F. Henderson and R.B. Lewis at a seminar entitled 'Local Government in Transition,' organized by the Center for Research on Federal Financial Relations at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. Necessary community services to be provided by the local government; Coordination and responsibility in community service.

Lists technical papers from the Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research in Australia. Titles and suggested prices.

Lists several papers and research results in economics featured in the June 1978 issue of the periodical 'The Australian Economic Review.' Health care under voluntary insurance; Incidence of poverty; Index of official economic forecasts and projections; Demand for and supply of professionally-trained social workers; Volunteers in social welfare agencies.

Lists technical papers on social and economic issues in Australia published by the Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.

The article presents information on the economic situation in Australia based on the 1982-83 budget. During a year when output growth was already expected to be negligible and inflation to increase, the 1982-83 budget will exert a contractionary and inflationary influence on the economy. Thus, the whole array of exogenous influences on the level of economic activity will be contractionary in 1982-83. The net impact of lower personal income tax rates, higher cash benefits and higher indirect taxes introduced in the budget is a modest boost to real disposable income. But the rate of growth of wages and non-farm business income is slowing and farm income will fall sharply because of drought. With inflation accelerating, the growth rates of real disposable income and of real consumption will slow. Real private investment spending will fall slightly and housing expenditure will fall even further than last year. Public sector spending will accelerate, but the upshot is a halving in the rate of growth of domestic demand to 2 per cent. A rundown in stocks and another big deficit in the real balance of trade in goods and services completes the gloomy demand picture.

The article outlines the main features of the Federal budget of Australia for 1982-83 and presents a broad assessment of how the budget measures alter the economic outlook for 1982-83. The budget incorporates estimated growth of 11.3 per cent in receipts to $45,393 million and estimated growth of 13.9 per cent in expenditures to $47,067 million, resulting in an overall deficit of $1674 million and a domestic surplus of $230 million. The budget estimate of total expenditures differs very little from the forecast, but the distribution of spending among categories is rather different. The budget estimates for cash benefits to persons exceeds the estimate by $362 million, but abstracting from the effect of policy initiatives announced in the budget, the forecasts would imply only slightly stronger growth. The budget leads to increase the forecast of the rate of inflation but appears unlikely to affect the forecast of the rate of growth of real output or employment. The measures introduced in the budget will on balance have a direct positive effect on real household income.

The article presents information on the Australian economy as of 1982-83. Strong growth in domestic demand pushed up the rate of growth of real non-farm gross domestic product (GDP) in 1980-81 to 5.1%, its highest level since 1972-73, according to March quarter 1982 national accounts data rebased to 1979-80 prices. But the subsequent twelve months brought a marked slowing in the growth of domestic demand, together with a further weakening in net exports, and non-farm GDP is estimated to have increased by only 1.9% in 1981-82. On the usual forecasting assumption of no change in the policy stance, it was expected that the slowing in growth of domestic demand will continue during 1982-83. Although some improvement in net exports is expected, it will not be sufficient to offset the further slackening in domestic demand. Non-farm GDP is forecasted to increase even more slowly, by only 1.2% in 1982-83. This slowing in the pace of economic activity has, not surprisingly, exerted a strong adverse impact on the labor market.

The article presents information on the household disposable income in Australia in 1982. The growth in average wages and salaries has been particularly rapid during the past two financial years, with strong growth in both award wages and overaward payments. Growth of 11% in award wages during 1980-81 resulted from a combination of three indexation increases during that year and the continued spread of the work value round. The payment of large overaward payments was facilitated by the much more buoyant output and employment conditions of that year. The wage drift variable indicates that growth in 1980-81 was slightly more than double that of the previous year. This combined strength in award growth and overaward payments led to growth in average wages and salaries of 12.7%, some 4% points greater than the rate of increase in the previous year. Despite an initial slowing of award wage growth after the abandonment of the wage indexation guidelines, it is estimated that growth in 1981-62 was only slightly slower, at 10.5%, than in the previous year.

The article provides an overview of the Australian electric industry and considers the supply shortages in Victoria and the possible impact on the state and national economies of future shortages. It points up the problems involved in forecasting demand, and in attempting to match supply with demand when additions to supply involve lead times of ten to twelve years whereas substantial changes in demand can occur within the much shorter construction periods needed for increases in industrial capacity. Initially, the article outlines the structure of the Australian electricity industry. The problems being experienced by the industry in Victoria are discussed, with some reference to Tasmania and New South Wales. The methods used to forecast electricity demand have received considerable, attention recently. The methods used by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria are explained and discussed and recent demand forecasts are assessed. Several alternative approaches are suggested. The article also attempts to assess the costs incurred as a result of electricity shortages.

The article comments on Will Foster's paper titled "Gross Flows in the Australian Labor Market," published in the April 1981 issue of the journal "Australian Economic Review." In his paper, Foster discusses two extreme views of the labor market. He says that the labor market could be viewed essentially as a medium for transferring the employed from one job to the next or into unemployment, and for transferring the unemployed sooner or later back into employment. This hypothesis could be called hypothesis 1. Hypothesis 2 is stated that the labor market could be seen more as a means of moving people into the labor force to either employment or unemployment, in which state they would tend to remain until leaving the labor force again. Foster sensibly points out that in practice the Australian labor market probably operates at an intermediate position between these two extremes. He goes on to suggest that the recently available gross flows data can be used to address the issue of the relative importance of flows within and across labor force boundaries.

After a brief account of some of the salient facts of Australia's recent economic experience, this paper reviews some explanations for the apparent failure of labour markets to clear in recession and then reviews some explanations for the fluctuations in the aggregate demand for labour. Next, some links between real wages and employment are examined. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for economic policy of the preceding analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of this paper is to indicate how public choice theory and orthodox normative tax theory may be integrated within a single coherent intellectual framework. Because public choice theory has quite different conceptual foundations from normative tax theory, this is no simple task. A purely positive fiscal theory, that derives tax arrangements as one aspect of the emergent political equilibrium, would leave no logical room for normative tax theory at all: the question as to what the tax system ‘ought to be’ becomes irrelevant, or at least inseparable from the broader question as to the appropriateness of general political institutions. However, if tax arrangements are viewed as part of the political institutional framework, normative tax theory can be admitted — but in a somewhat reformulated way. The paper aims to set out briefly the reformulations required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the paper 'Elements of a Fiscal Politics: Public Choice and Public Finance,' by Geoffrey Brennan, published in the September 1984 issue of the 'Australian Economic Review.' Views on the paper's central theme; Additional inputs to the issues of taxation policy in Australia; Advantages and limitations of the study; Implications for fiscal policy-making.

Comments on the paper 'Elements of a Fiscal Politics: Public Choice and Public Finance,' by Geoffrey Brennan, published in the September 1984 issue of the 'Australian Economic Review.' Views on the paper's central theme; Advantages and limitations of the study; Implications for fiscal policy-making.

Comments on the paper 'Protection and Structural Change From a Contestable Market Perspective,' by Jonathan J. Pincus, published in the September 1984 issue of the 'Australian Economic Review.' Major issues of public policy-making raised by Pincus; Flaws and limitations of Pincus' assessments; Implications for public policy-making.

Comments on the paper 'The Economics of Law: Economic Imperialism in Negligence Law, No-Fault Insurance, Occupational Licensing and Criminology,' by Peter L. Swan, published in the September 1984 issue of the 'Australian Economic Review.' Major issues raised; Flaws and limitations of the assessments; Implications for the legal system.

Comments on the paper 'The Economics of Law: Economic Imperialism in Negligence Law, No-Fault Insurance, Occupational Licensing and Criminology,' by Peter L. Swan, published in the September 1984 issue of the 'Australian Economic Review.' Major issues raised; Flaws and limitations of the assessments; Implications for the legal system.

This paper examines whether a regulatory distinction between banks and other financial institutions, as proposed by the Campbell and Martin Reports, is an appropriate ingredient of financial regulation. Three specific issues relevant to the making of such a distinction are examined. They are entry to the payments mechanism, monetary control, and prudential regulation. In examining each of these three issues the roles of imperfect information and other financial market characteristics are stressed. The paper concludes that while a regulatory distinction between banks and others may be appropriate, the distinctions suggested by the Reports and associated regulatory frameworks are unwarranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the paper 'Financial Regulation in Australia,' by Kevin Davis, published in the September 1984 issue of the 'Australian Economic Review.' Major issues raised; Limitations of the assessments; Implications for fiscal policy-making.

Comments on the paper 'Financial Regulation in Australia,' by Kevin Davis, published in the September 1984 issue of the 'Australian Economic Review.' Major issues raised; Limitations of the assessments; Implications for fiscal policy-making.

This paper surveys what is known about wealth distribution in Australia and concludes that our knowledge is scanty. The most reliable evidence comes from studies using probate returns and with the abolition of estate duties, these studies are becoming out of date. However, it is clear that wealth is very unequally distributed. The top 5 per cent of adult individuals own between 40 and 50 per cent of the wealth. This inequality is not just due to life cycle effects, and there is no strong evidence that wealth distribution has become more equal in Australia in the period since the First World War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Criticizes the paper 'Taxation and Voter Model for Australia 1968-69 to 1981-82,' by Geoffrey Brennan. Details of the median voter model; Sweeping assumptions that lack basis in the real world; Uselessness of the model as an explanatory procedure.

Comments on the paper 'The Federal Budget: How Much Difference Do Elections Make,' by F.H. Gruen. Impact of government regimes in Australia on budgetary policies; Expansion of government relative to the economy; Role and importance of political parties to the economy.

Comments on the paper 'The Federal Budget: How Much Difference Do Elections Make,' by F.H. Gruen, about the Australian budget process. Impact of election outcomes on taxation; Effect of voter self-interest on government; Differences in economic priorities of the different political regimes in the country; Link between political party ideology and the policy system.

Comments on the paper 'Trade and Industry Policy,' by P.J. Forsyth, published in the September 1985 issue of 'Australian Economic Review.' Structure of the Australian manufacturing industry in the context of competition from imports; Focus on industry policy studies in the country; Forsyth's failure to discuss policies restricting and promoting exports; Domestic content schemes for various industries.

Comments on the paper 'Development of Trade Practices Law and Administration,' by R.M. Bannerman, discussing commercial policy-making in Australia. Content of economics courses; Simplified approach to competition policy in many basic economic courses; Economic conditions having a profound effect on the development of competition law and administration in the country.

Comments on the paper 'Continuity and Change: Labour Market Programs and Education Expenditure,' by Bruce Chapman. Chapman's views on the major political parties in Australia; Approaches to expenditure on labor market programs and education; Limitations of Chapman's research.

Analyzes the effects of changes in the existing tax mix of the distribution of income in Australia. Shifts from direct to indirect taxes; General equilibrium effects of the policy changes laid out in the government's Draft White Paper on tax reform; Sources of inequality in the pre- and post-change distributions.

Lists Australian federal government publications released during August 1 to September 30, 1987, which contain information that may be of interest to economists. Australian Science and Technology Council's paper 'After the Harvest: Opportunities and Technologies in Horticulture'; Explanatory publications released by the Australian Taxation Office; Report released by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics.

In this paper I discuss indices used to measure the level of poverty in Australia among demographic groups and over time. The strengths and deficiencies of indices in current use are noted and alterative indices are presented. The theoretical properties of the indices are compared and discussed. The discussion is extended to include a brief review of poverty lines paying particular attention to the method used to update them. Poverty is measured for 1981-82 and 1985-86 for broad demographic groups. Differences between groups in each year and trends over time are noted and discussed. The performance of alternative indices are compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earlier comparative work on income distribution has tended to suggest that Australia is characterised by less income inequality than other industrialised economies. Concerns about the quality of the Australian data used in such comparisons have led to the need for more detailed assessment of the situation. The Luxembourg Income Study has been a focus for this work by bringing together microdata sets for a range of countries and reorganising them to conform to standardised concepts and definitions. This paper builds on earlier work undertaken as part of the Luxembourg Income Study by including Australia in an international comparative analysis of income distribution and redistribution. The Australian data are those from the 1981-82 Income and Housing Survey, with income tax imputed onto the data file. Results are presented for the gross and net income distributions between both families and individuals in seven countries. A common set of equivalence scales is also used to adjust for differing family needs. The results indicate that, using several summary measures of inequality, the distribution of income in Australia is less equal than in four of the other six countries studied. Earlier research which placed Australia high on the international league table of income equality is thus not confirmed by the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarises the available evidence on the present-day distribution of wealth in Australia, and draws comparison with international evidence. With this as background, I argue that an initiative to collect more up-to-date information on Australia's wealth distribution would be most useful if it focused on the least wealthy 90 to 95 per cent of the population, even though this group probably owns not more than half the nation's wealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid-1980s, Australia has been under considerable pressure to restructure its economy. This restructuring has been necessitated by the need to generate surpluses in its external trade account in order to meet the growing interest payments on its foreign debt. To facilitate this process of restructuring, the Commonwealth Government initially used two macro policies that have the desired structural effects: 'wage moderation' and 'fiscal management'. In this paper, we examine the distributional effects of these policies. The analysis depends on simulations using an extended version of the ORANI model of the Australian economy, taken in conjunction with unit record data from an updated version of the 1981-82 Income and Housing Survey database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses trends in poverty in Australia over the last two decades, as indicated by changes in the number and composition of income units with incomes below the Henderson poverty line as well as by trends in the circumstances of the population in receipt of social security payments. This analysis suggests that there have been significant changes in the nature of poverty in Australia, which has increased among those of workforce age. Families with children have been particularly affected by these developments. The paper describes the development of policies designed to achieve the govemment's pledge that by 1990 no child need live in poverty. Despite the usefulness of the Henderson poverty line in identifying trends in economic vulnerability, the paper identifies a number of practical objections to using this indicator to assess the total effect of government initiatives. The paper concludes with a discussion of a broad approach to poverty alleviation, which would include income support, labour market and community services policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the paper 'The Development of Government Policies on Poverty and Income Distribution,' by Meredith Edwards and Peter Whiteford, about poverty policy-making in Australia. Major trends in poverty; Segment of the population living in poverty; Flaws of the authors' application of the Henderson poverty line in measuring poverty.

Lists Australian and New Zealand working papers and research reports in the field of economics as of September 1988. Topics, Authors, Manner of obtaining copies.

This article presents forecasts of key variables for the Australian economy in 1988-89 and 1989-90. The first section summarises our forecasts. Section 2 provides the underlying details for 1988-89. It includes a comparison of our forecasts with those in the Budget Papers and an analysis of the sensitivity of our forecasts to variations in key assumptions. The underlying details and some sensitivity analysis for 1989-90 are in Section 3. Section 4 contains concluding remarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a paper on the aspects of the operation of monetary policy in Australia, as well as two papers commenting on that article. Mechanics of the Reserve Bank of Australia's operating techniques; Conceptual issues and objectives which underlie the bank's operations.

Presents a paper concerned with the structural analysis of Australia's monetary policy, as well as two papers commenting on that article. Criteria on which to judge a policy instrument; Changes in monetary policy over the 1980s; Tightening of monetary policy.

Presents a paper on Australia's monetary policy and the terms of trade (TOT), as well as two papers commenting on that article. TOT and the real economy; Conduct of monetary policy with variable TOT; Monetary base targeting; Problems with monetary base control; Other targeting schemes.

Presents a paper on implementing Australia's monetary policy in an era of budget surpluses, as well as two papers commenting on that article. Implications of budget surpluses for the stock of commonwealth government securities; Effects of Prime Assets Ratio; Investing the budget surplus; Monetary policy instruments; Alternative institutional arrangements; New Zealand experiment.

Presents a paper on bank capital adequacy requirements and Australian monetary policy, as well as two papers commenting on that article. Risk asset ratio approach; Capital structure bank value.

Presents a paper on bank monetary policy in Australia under deregulation, as well as two papers commenting on that article. Objectives of monetary policy; Operation of monetary policy; Efficacy of monetary policy post-deregulation.

Presents a paper on the implications for Australian monetary policy of innovations and institutional changes in the market for foreign exchange, as well as two papers commenting on that article. Innovation and change since 1983; Insulation and policy effectiveness; Exchange rate flexibility and shocks to the Australian economy; Monetary policy since the floating of the Australian dollar in 1983.

Presents a paper on developments in Australian money and government securities markets since 1983, as well as two papers commenting on that article. Domestic market operations of the Reserve Bank of Australia; Commonwealth debt management; Developments in the short-term money market.

Presents Industry Commission reports and inquiries in Australia from July 1 to November 30, 1990. 'Pulp and Paper: Bleaching and the Environment'; 'Interim Report on Paper Recycling'; 'Concessional Entry of Aluminised Steel for Use in Mufflers and Exhaust Systems'; 'Aids and Appliances for People with Disabilities.'

We have selected four Year Twelve examination questions from the 1991 papers set by examiners in Queensland, Tasmania. Victoria and Western Australia. As the solutions to a range of practical problems have been provided in a previous issue of this publication, we have chosen questions which examine the students' knowledge of accounting principles and theoretical issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the key propositions and recommendations of the Australian Green Paper entitled 'Restoring Full Employment,' released by the Committee on Employment Opportunities in December 1993. Expansion in labor market program spendings; Use of wage subsidies to be implemented by public sector job creation programs; Economic growth maximization.

Assesses the Australian Green Paper entitled 'Restoring Full Employment,' released by the Australian Committee on Employment Opportunities in December 1983. Determinants of the economic growth rate; Relation between economic growth and unemployment rates; Use of the Access Economics Model to predict changes in the unemployment rates.