SAUL ESLAKE

Economist

SAUL ESLAKE

‘Welcome to my website …
I’m an independent economist, speaker, company director
and Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Tasmania’

Taxation


Taxation is an important part of economic policy – not only in raising revenue for governments to spend, but also in influencing private saving, investment and spending decisions, and for affecting the distribution of income and wealth. Decisions as to what is (or isn’t taxed), and at what rate, are always controversial, and sometimes have unintended consequences.

Productivity, Tax Reform and ‘Peak China’

Asian Economies, Economic Policies, Productivity, Taxation, The Australian Economy | 13th March 2024

Talk to a gathering of parliamentarians, business leaders and others from the UK and Australia, in Melbourne, on Wednesday 13th March 2024 PRODUCTIVITY, TAX REFORM & ‘PEAK CHINA’ TALK TO COOK SOCIETY, 13th MARCH 2024   by Saul Eslake Principal, Corinna Economic Advisory Download PDF version Productivity Productivity – what we get by way of […]


Danielle Wood must help undo GST deal

News, Taxation, The Australian Economy | 30th November 2023

The Australian Financial Review has published an op-ed from me on the changes to the arrangements for distributing the revenue from the GST among the states and territories imposed by the Morrison Government in 2018 (with the support of the then Labor Opposition) – something which I regard as one of the worst public policy […]


Danielle Wood, the Productivity Commission and the horizontal fiscal equalization (HFE)

Economic Policies, Taxation, The Australian Economy | 13th November 2023

The changes to the way in which revenues from the GST are carved up among the states and territories imposed by the Morrison Government in 2019 (with the support of the then Labor Opposition) represent, IMHO, one of the worst pieces of public policy-making in Australia in at least 25 years. Among many other flaws, […]


Will reductions in land tax make any difference to rents?

Tasmania, Taxation | 2nd March 2022

The Tasmanian Government’s announcement, in the first week of March 2022, of forthcoming changes to the land tax scale have prompted a raft of commentary, much of it not very well informed, on the effects of land tax and the likely impact of the changes proposed by the Government on rents. This note explains why […]


The costs and consequences of ‘small business fetishism’

Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Publications, Taxation, The Australian Economy | 10th December 2021

Article published in the December 2021 edition of Agenda, the journal of the Australian National University’s School of Economics.


The ‘corrupt bargain’ underpinning WA’s budget surpluses

Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Taxation | 16th September 2021

Article published in the Australian Financial Review on 16th September 2021, examining the way in which Western Australia’s budget surpluses are being bolstered at the expense of the rest of Australia by the ‘corrupt bargain’ over shares of revenue from the GST imposed by the Morrison Government three years ago


Reflections on the 2021 Intergenerational Report

Economic Policies, Taxation, The Australian Economy | 15th August 2021

The 2021 IGR, released some six weeks ago, suggests that Australia will be running budget deficits for the next 40 years. But that’s only because of the quite arbitrary assumption that tax collections will remain ‘capped’ at 23.9% of GDP, forever more. There’s no reason why that should be the case.


Negative Gearing and Capital Gains Tax (again)

Australian Society and Politics, Housing, News, Taxation | 4th August 2021

Saul talks to National Radio News’ political reporter Amanda Copp about tax policy and housing, following the Australian Labor Party’s decision to abandon the policies it took to the past two elections (in 2016 and 2019) of abolishing ‘negative gearing’ (the long-standing provision in Australia’s tax code whereby investors in property, or other assets, can […]


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Dr Joe Flood, Adjunct Fellow, RMIT University, Pandemicia


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WHAT'S NEW

Most Recent Articles, Talks and Presentations


Productivity, Tax Reform and ‘Peak China’
Asian Economies, Economic Policies, Productivity, Taxation, The Australian Economy
13th March 2024


The Tasmanian Economy
Tasmania
29th February 2024


The worst public policy decision of the 21st Century
Economic Policies, Recent Media Interview
20th February 2024


Is ‘price gouging’ a major contributor to inflation?
Recent Media Interview
19th February 2024


The massive $50bn GST revenue distribution blow out (with Andy Park)
Economic Policies, Recent Media Interview
14th February 2024


The massive $50bn GST revenue distribution blow out (with Gary Adshead)
Economic Policies, Recent Media Interview
14th February 2024


Tasmania’s senior secondary education reform
Recent Media Interview, Tasmania
13th February 2024


Distribution of GST Revenue: the Worst Public Policy Decision of the 21st Century to date.
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, The Australian Economy
4th February 2024


Insights on Asian Elections 2024 mentioned in The Economist
Asian Economies
30th January 2024


Alternatives to interest rates
Economic Policies, Recent Media Interview, The Australian Economy
29th January 2024


Reflections on ‘Australia Day’
Australian Society and Politics
26th January 2024


‘Stage 3’ tax cuts
Economic Policies, Recent Media Interview, The Australian Economy
25th January 2024


The proposed changes to the “stage 3 tax cuts”
Economic Policies, Recent Media Interview, The Australian Economy
24th January 2024


Don’t count your chickens when it comes to an RBA rate cut
Recent Media Interview, The Australian Economy
23rd January 2024


Have we passed ‘peak China’?
Asian Economies
23rd January 2024


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What Others Say


“You are one of the best at what you do in the world”
Gail Fosler, Chief Economist, The Conference Board, New York, December 2002

“I have never known an economist to have such a knowledge of world economic facts and to be able to bring to bear so much information in answering a question without notice”
Charles Goode, Chairman, ANZ Bank, July 2009

“Saul Eslake is … a highly regarded independent economist with the highest degree of integrity"
John Durie, Columnist, The Australian, July 2009

“… one of the few people in this world who can have so many oranges up in the air at the same time but still manage to catch them"
Andrew Clark, journalist, Australian Financial Review, November 2008

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