The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

AFR Column: Why we need *more* income inequality, not less

In the AFR today I tackle the contentious topic of income inequality. I argue that more income inequality would be better than less, all things being equal. Of course, I advocate equality of opportunity. But I reject claims made by Dr Andrew Leigh and others that Australians' alleged sense of 'egalitarianism' justifies policy actions that promote more equality. You can read the column for free here. (I ran these arguments by Andrew over the weekend, fwiw.)


at 6:52 AM