Most tax debates focus on the what: rates, base, and who pays. This episode is about the how: the process by which economic policy gets made. Drawing on his time in the Australian Treasury, host Gene Tunny argues that the latest changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing reflect a breakdown in good policymaking. They were announced on budget night without the consultation, published modelling, or public mandate that major reform deserves. As a contrast, Gene revisits the Howard government's GST process of the late 1990s: a detailed white paper, published modelling, and a policy taken to an election for a fresh mandate. With clips from a recent Death and Taxes livestream featuring co-host John Humphreys and guest Derek Francis, the episode asks a question that reaches well beyond Australia: what does good policy process look like, and what does it cost us when governments skip it?
Most tax debates focus on the what: rates, base, and who pays. This episode is about the how: the process by which economic policy gets made. Drawing on his time in the Australian Treasury, host Gene Tunny argues that the latest changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing reflect a breakdown in good policymaking. They were announced on budget night without the consultation, published modelling, or public mandate that major reform deserves. As a contrast, Gene revisits the Howard government's GST process of the late 1990s: a detailed white paper, published modelling, and a policy taken to an election for a fresh mandate. With clips from a recent Death and Taxes livestream featuring co-host John Humphreys and guest Derek Francis, the episode asks a question that reaches well beyond Australia: what does good policy process look like, and what does it cost us when governments skip it?
Gene would love to hear your thoughts on this episode. You can email him via contact@economicsexplored.com.
Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance livestream, Thursday 25 June, “Labor's new tax disaster, with Derek Francis || #47”:
https://www.youtube.com/live/vqz_hEVyg70?si=F8DS2GxdUz_-PkmJ
Previous episode on capital gains tax, “Taxing Capital More in a Productivity Slump? Perverse Policy in Australia”:
Howard Government White Paper on “A New Tax System”:
https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-03/Whitepaper.pdf
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