The key to effective public policy is to understand incentives. Incentives are not particularly well understood. That explains why most public policy is bad policy.
Continue readingregulation
Yet another license?
They say that to a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. When it comes to the retirement incomes sector in Australia, the equivalent mindset seems to sit within the head of Jeremy Cooper.
Continue readingDon’t just stand there – delete something!
Javier Milei is off to a great start. So refreshing.
Laws or legislation?
I was prompted to pen a letter to the editor of the Australian Financial Review by a column in the weekend edition. The editor kindly published it.
New covid panic
If I told you that Covid restrictions were about to be re-invigorated, you would reasonably dismiss me as a looney. Right? Stay tuned.
Bank bail outs are insane
For three reasons:
Continue readingAnd in fashion news, we turn to stress testing financial institutions
Does anyone else get the feeling that regulators and supervisors of financial institutions such as insurers, banks and pension funds merely follow the fashion?
Continue readingWarning signs
The Federal Labor Government in Australia appears on track to challenge the Whitlam government of the early 1970s as Australia’s worst ever. Socially and economically the signs are bad.
Continue readingMarket failure?
Oh dear. The Australian Energy Market Operator has suspended the market. The Operator says the market was “impossible to operate”. Does this constitute a market failure? It’s definitely a failure of something.
I say it’s not a market failure. That’s because it’s not a real market. The authoritarian left often decries market failure as reason for Government intervention in all manner of ways. Well, here’s an example of a highly restricted and distorted pseudo market failure right in front of our eyes at a time when the energy supply is tottering on the verge of blackouts.
The reason for this failure is precisely due to years of Government intervention, mismanagement and lies. Goodness knows what happens from here, but mark June 2022 as the month in which the creaking facade masquerading as an energy system in Australia crumbled.
Unlimited #vacation leave policy – a pricing error
It sounds like a good thing – unlimited holiday time, still meeting budget, making bonuses. Here’s a recent piece on the topic. It might work for some, perhaps not others.
It will be clear if it isn’t working. Customers will suffer, other colleagues will complain about being overworked to make good the leave, budgets will not be met. It will be a shambles, obvious very early on. Continue reading
Australian Actuary 