Matthew Rao - Economics Students Society of Australia

Matthew Rao

A collection of 4 posts

Tax me if you can

Tax me if you can

The recent tax white paper issued by the federal government has opened up a debate over the tax system in this country. Many people are looking for ways to both address the deficit and boost economic growth. This balancing act is an extremely difficult task, so we shouldn’t necessarily

Free speech and the free market: comparable?

Free speech and the free market: comparable?

The attacks on the Charlie Hebdo staff earlier this year in France prompted many to voice their support for free speech. But there are also those who wish to impose limits on speech, for religious, racial or political reasons. In this article, I attempt to show how the free-market economic

Unemployment v Fiscal Instability: Which is the greater threat?

Unemployment v Fiscal Instability: Which is the greater threat?

In the immediate aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008-09, the main concern for most policy makers was ensuring people were employed. The unemployment rate rose from as low as 4% to almost 6% quite rapidly. After both the government and the RBA took various stimulus measures, this panic

Has austerity failed? ESSA Debate primer

Has austerity failed? ESSA Debate primer

This Friday night, teams from Melbourne and Monash will go head to head in ESSA’s annual economic debate. This year’s debate will revolve around austerity. Unless you’ve spent the last ten years in some sort of fiscal wilderness, it’s probably a term you’ve heard. But,