Ross Gittins celebrates his 40th year of commentating for Australian baby boomers today and offers his list of the top ten reforms that made us richer:
1. Floating the dollar reducing international shocks
2. Deregulating the banks making it easier to get a loan
3. New taxes on capital gains and fringe benefits that cut marginal tax rates
4. Removing import protection mostly on manufacturing
5. Privatising government businesses like CBA, QANTAS and Telstra
6. Enterprise bargaining which reduced centralised wage fixing (ie Accords!)
7. National competition policy which reduced rent-seeking, for a little while
8. Central Bank independence which has reduced inflation
9. Goods and services tax because it’s more efficient
10. Taxes on mining and carbon which have been botched
Discuss!
