Ben Spies-Butcher
@bspiesbutcher
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Sociologist & political economist @MQ_Sociology Co-Director @AusBasicIncome, help edit @TheElrr & JAPE @ppesydney, @NTEUNSW member he/him own views
Gadigal land
Joined September 2013
New book is out! I explore the impact of neoliberalism on inequality and the welfare state. Neoliberalism has not only changed welfare. It changes the politics of how welfare is contested – and the strategies for winning equality.
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2019 - poverty is complex, govt can't really do anything anyway.2020 - turns out we can end poverty overnight.2021 - and we can reintroduce poverty too. It was always a choice. It still is.
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Economists once thought low unemployment meant higher wages. That hasn't been true for some time. We now have more work and less pay. Some call that good economic management. Others call it feudalism. Landlords doing well though.
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Odd landlord advocacy in smh. Apparently surgeons, anesthetist and psychiatrists ain't fancy jobs. (and the point of negative gearing is to make an annual tax loss, while making a capital gain)
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There are lots of economists talking about #80aDay but strangely almost none of them make economic arguments. a thread.
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#BasicIncome would significantly lower #inequality and #poverty without breaking the bank. Our new research in today's SMH
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As govts scramble to keep things going we are about to find out that:.* homelessness is not necessary .* poverty is not necessary .* insecure work is not necessary .They are all choices. Absurd and callous choices. Let's not choose them again when this is over.
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How to unlearn success. Last year simple, inclusive and generous payments helped us get through lock down. Now complex, conditional and stingy payments are doing us in. #PayPeopleToStayHome.
Thinking about how insanely stupid our welfare system is and why people keep going to work. This is deliberately designed like this. During a pandemic.
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How did NSW affordable housing policy just become rezoning and density? Density is great for lots of reasons. But as the main (only) tool for affordability it is really just supply-side, trickle down economics. A 🧵.
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Peter Costello makes a compelling case that if we simply cut all taxes on the rich we can eliminate tax evasion.
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$80 is much like 1.5 degrees. Sure its complex. Sure its very hard to make it happen. But we can do both, and (social) science is about showing us how, not explaining why politicians won't.
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Surely opening up safely is not just about vaccine targets. We need safe workplaces, secure jobs, adequate incomes and world class healthcare. We need to #BuildBackBetter.
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Rejecting $80 a day on incentive grounds is simple ideology, as galbraith said it is the belief 'that the rich were not working because they had too little money, the poor because they had much' hence low payments and more tax cuts.
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Unemployment to fall along with real wages. The model is broken. Making more people work harder for longer for less. Feudalism's back baby!.
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Reminder that debt is rarely paid down by surpluses, but by growth. Australia's debt is low by global standards. And the 'sustainable' level of debt keeps going up, bc the number is entirely made up. Poverty is real today. Austerity is political not scientific.
1/ Australia is on track for 25 years of budget deficits. Teenagers starting high school today have never seen a budget surplus and probably won’t until they are well into adulthood. The federal government needs to cut spending and raise taxes. Here’s why, and how. 🧵 #auspol
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We know we can afford it, because we did afford it, even as the economy shrank during lock down. That is, our economy could deliver $80 a day with less total income than we have now.
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Second time in 18 months a government decides to end homelessness. Lets hope this time they don't decide to reintroduce it afterwards #housingforall #PovertyIsAPolicyChoice.
Some good news. Just heard the NSW Gov is putting homeless Aussies into hotel rooms in the CBD. The next two weeks are the perfect opportunity to provide these vulnerable Aussies with their first shot of the vaccine 💉.
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According to the #Budget21 papers the govt will go to the election promising to LOWER real wages by 2.5% over the next 3 years. Yes, actually make workers poorer. How is that not a huge deal?.
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First, there is a clear basis for $80 a day. Poverty lines are set at the minimum resources need to live a basic but decent life. Sure there's some fuzziness at the edges. But that's the same with carbon emissions and we don't reject targets on that basis.
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The real incentive problem is that people lose 50-60c in the $ when they get paid work. Reducing 'taper rates' is a big economic issue, and much bigger than any potential impact from raising the rate.
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Just out in Rolling Stone - can Australia have a #BasicIncome - featuring our new @AusBasicIncome Lab and fellow codirectors @elisejklein & @TroyCHenderson
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There are two big potential economic constraints on $80 a day. One - a real resource constraint, which is what 'we can't afford it' means in economics, rather than it is politically difficult or I feel uncomfortable with asking for it.
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Our YIMBY NIMBY debate has led us down a dangerous path. Density brings lots of benefits. But unconditional rezoning is privatised density, locking in the current dynamics. Reducing inequality requires redistribution, not endless incentives to drive profits.
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Two, there is potentially an incentive problem. That is, if everyone is guaranteed $80 a day maybe people wouldn't work as much and our total income would fall. But that doesn't hold much water either. .
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Just out (online) - Rolling Stone's coverage of #BasicIncome in #auspol featuring our new @AusBasicIncome Lab discussing how we might make it happen.
According to one 2020 survey, some two-thirds of Australians currently support the idea of a Universal Basic Income in Australia. But what does this momentum mean in real life? .
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If we need to shut down we need jobkeeper and covid supplement back. Lack of payments and vaccines are a v big problem.
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That’s right. Rezoning directly gives new financial benefits to the people who already own land, and roughly in proportion to how much land they already own. The biggest direct winners are large investors and developers.
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'Cost of living' isn't only about prices. It's about incomes too. This year prices are up 4.25%. Wages only up 2.75%. A 1.5% real cut. Not one off. Locked in and indexed. Can't take cost of living seriously without increasing wages #Budget2022.
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If it is all about #jobs why is the government slashing #universities and funding gas? And more importantly, why haven't we been able to explain this effectively?.
The PM calls the new gas plan a "pillar of the Jobmaker plan". But gas is the least labour intensive industry in Australia. Supporting any other industry would create more jobs
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Just out 'The History and Future of the Tax State'. We explore how #neoliberalism changed how states use their fiscal powers to expand #inequality, and the potential alternatives revealed during the pandemic. w @garethjbryant in @CriticalPersp.
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Our universities have become too reliant on charging international students exorbitant fees. It's time they became reliant on charging local students exorbitant fees too. Did we mention if you're struggling you can get a free home reno?.
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Another example of the bizarre asset logic of #auspol . Anything to increase wages risks economic oblivion . Anything that pushes up house prices is worth trying. When they say the rich are getting richer, might this have something to do with it 🤔.
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A reminder that despite trillions now invested in super, for many it cannot guarantee shelter, income or care in retirement. It remains one of the least efficient social policies we have. But also one of the greatest opportunities for egalitarian and democratic reform.
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Imagine of we learned to live with higher govt payments, more secure jobs or stronger rental protections. It will be a tragedy if at the end of this the only thing we have learned to live with is a virus. .
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Last year poverty fell, even as the economy shrank. Our new #BasicIncome @TheABI_Lab will learn from that policy success to help reduce poverty and inequality permanently #auspol #ausecon
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Standing w Macquarie @NTEUnion colleagues and students to fight for a more democratic, fairer university
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It feels a little like this #Budget2020 is in 1950. Big energy investment, but no mention of #climate Nothing on childcare or support for the care workers that got us through the pandemic.
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We know the govt can provide support for all those that have just lot incomes, bc they did last year. Now, they are choosing not to. Enough half baked measures. We need full JobKeeper and COVID supplement payments now.
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Great way to think about housing and generational inequality. It's not that all young people are worse off. Instead inequality increases for each new generation. We are phasing in c19th inequality. That leaves 90% worse off (I imagine not as bad but same trend in Oz).
Lordy lord. Unless you’re in the 90th percentile of Millennials, you’re getting wrecked by the greatest social crisis in the developed world (housing).
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Covid supplement is the one clear policy success of this term of govt and they seem determined to undo it. Just unbelievable. .
Morrison's refusal to reinstate JK & CS is creating pressure-cooker of financial deprivation for states. They don't have capacity to fund programs at scale to properly back-in lockdowns. Its sabotage. #COVID19Aus #auspol.
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Arrived today! Can't wait to join the Milk Crate Liberation Front and support the @AusUnemployment
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Building a million new homes will only make a difference if they are different to the million+ we'd build anyway. A million public homes will do it, new incentives for investors in private houses won't.
@DrCameronMurray We'd expect to build roughly 1.5M-2M over the next 10 years. Is the 1M in addition to this? Will some new scheme simply replace what was going to be built anyway?.
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Developers don’t aim to make housing affordable. They aim for profit. No profit, no new homes. That’s why govts need to give them more profits to encourage ‘supply’. Those homes will be targeted at the most profitable (not affordable) markets. Not promising so far….
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New govt ads saying 70m RAT tests have been 'secured'. Not 'made available'. Hope they are very secure. Wherever they are.
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Rezoning (by itself) is a form of trickle down economics - it creates no new homes, doesn’t make tenants more secure, or directly control rents. Instead it creates incentives for investor-developers to expand supply.
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The great success of decades of Intergenerational Reports. The government will now spend radically less on poor old people and radically more on rich old people - all to help young people 🙃
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Just out! Advancing Universalism in Neoliberal Times? Basic Income, Workfare and the Politics of Conditionality - My part of a great special issue by @drtombarnes and @claire_rhiannon #BasicIncome #Workfare.
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Unemployment, underemployment and low wages aren't a bug, they are the result of institutional design, says @ak_pennington at @AusBasicIncome workshop.
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Australia has one of the most bureaucracy heavy, expensive and punitive systems of job assistance in the development world, that leads vulnerable people worse off says @MaiyAzize kicking off the first our @AusBasicIncome workshop.
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Have I got this right, the greens just outpolled the new opposition in WA and don't get any seats? Not just the upper house that needs reform. .
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These pro-rich solutions are called ‘tickle down economics’. They create incentives for private investors to expand employment, productivity and supply, by shrinking the state rather than through public action. Think tax cuts or privatisation.
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Market economics has a knack of explaining why we can’t have nice things. Direct, obvious policies to reduce inequality have ‘unintended consequences’. The most effective way to reduce poverty, they claim, is to give more money to rich people🧐.
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Higher uni student fees and specialist medical fees are two big components of rising inflation. Proper public funding of both would directly reduce inflation, and poverty.
"It is hard to think of a single measure for cost of living that doesn't make inflation worse.". Waleed Aly on the contradiction in the election campaign #Insiders #auspol
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How does it encourage supply? By creating new financial benefits for the existing owners of land. Re-zoning grants land owners new rights (to build bigger buildings). Those new rights increase the value of the land they own.
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Wonderful to see Lula's election. “We have the duty to guarantee that every Brazilian can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and that will once again be the priority of my government.”. If only we had that same commitment here #auspol.
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@oz_f Just returned from a conference where @JohnQuiggin reminded everyone that for the money the US has spent on Iraq and Afganistan wars we could have eliminated world poverty. Amazing we don't talk about it more.
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Wonderful discussion of the #asseteconomy as part of our new markets, policy and inequality reading group @MQ_Sociology @ArtsMResMQ @AdkinsProf @PoliticsandIRMQ
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Exciting news. Let's hope things really start to change. Key union pushes for #basicincome of $740 a week, #jobsguarantee via @smh.
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Of course, govt could build homes themselves. Or we could make rezoning conditional. If allowing more development increases the value of land, we could charge owners for those rights. Or we could require they build some public housing alongside the private housing.
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This park is opposite where I was born. It was created by resident direct action, my folks included, taking over what was a dump so the many kids had somewhere to play. Super proud of them ✊.
City of Sydney has announced plans to upgrade Redfern’s Douglas Street 'People's Park' and is asking for local feedback. More here @FarRedfern @Redfern @myredfernrocks #Redfern
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It's puzzling people understand labour markets are not 'free' and regulation is needed to protect workers, but then treat the housing market as if it is just about supply and demand. If wages a low bc unions are weak, maybe rents are high bc tenants are too.
Love "voluntarily and freely" offering higher rents because the alternative is being homeless.
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How does the financialisation of housing change the welfare state? @garethjbryant Adam Stebbing & I look at patterns of wealth inequality and what happens to housing markets during a crisis to explore how welfare states and housing finance mix. Free copy:.
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As the govt takes money out of our unis and oversees 17,000 job losses, remember they do fund (and force people to take) unaccredited courses people don't need or want by private providers.
UPDATE: Day 2 of the "course" our @AusUnemployment member is in. never forget that the Australian government funnels millions of dollar into this system every year to produce gems like this:. "THIS IS THE CERTIFY"
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Now you might be thinking. Aren’t we in the middle of a housing crisis? Isn’t it a bit daft to target all your new benefits to the richest people in the housing system? Don’t worry, the magic 🪄of incentives and markets might mean some benefits ‘trickle down’!.
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Everything about govt support for the second wave has been meaner, despite a gloomier jobs outlook. Is it that we lack the clear and present threat to house prices we had last year?.
COVID-19 disaster payments to be scaled back as vaccination rates rise via @ABCaustralia.
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#unifee reforms are a mess. Will encourage students to apply for courses they discourage unis from offering, and encourage unis to recruit in areas with higher fees. Sure there's a culture war on humanities, but the real game is austerity - a #bignewtax on young people.
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Very excited about this. Working with lots of great scholars - @fabiancann @TroyCHenderson @elisejklein @Zoettes @rpatulny @laurenkatekelly @andrew_c4000 and many more. Looking at #BasicIncome and inequality in complex societies.
CONGRATULATIONS! @deadtheorist & @ClareSoutherton and @fabiancann & @bspiesbutcher on SUCCESS in their respective EOIs for two special issues of JoS in 2023! We're really pleased and looking forward to working with such fabulous scholars as guest editors @AustSoc @Monash_Arts.
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Speaking with the National Youth Commission on why young people need a #BasicIncome and how to make it happen
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Great lecture tonight from @FNFlanagan reflecting on law, justice, home and climate futures in a carbon country. Big questions and beautifully thought and told.
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This is important. Most of the money in #Budget21 is to subsidise private providers. Its a big reason unemployment can fall but wages won't rise. And it costs (us in fees and govt) a lot more than public funding.
The Government have given billions of dollars to big business and private providers with no strings attached. They are doing nothing to create more secure, reliable jobs or increase wages. #Budget21.
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Increasing fees for anyone entering this job market is indefensible. Deliberately trying to undermine teaching that drives a knowledge economy is madness. Please sign and share this important petition: via @MegaphoneAU.
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My talented partner, @Sylvie_E is running for the Greens in the City of Sydney with a bold plan to radically expand #AffordableHousing and #ClimateAction. As this piece says, the role of the Greens is to push the boundaries. If you want to help, dm me.
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Lets talk about simple, inclusive and generous payments. We need that now to keep people home. And we it permanently to reduce poverty and inequality.
@TheABI_Lab Co-Directors @elisejklein , @bspiesbutcher and @TroyCHenderson will be speaking alongside Prof Greg Marston and @JamieACooke at the #BasicIncome in Australia plenary at #BIEN2021 at 7.45pm AEST tonight (1 hour!) Register here
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Actually, I think the money we spent on not getting any French submarines may be the money we *literally* spent on nothing.
"We have so far stuck 34,911,907 testing strips up people’s noses, to discover around 80,000 positive cases. That means 34.8 million of those tests were unnecessary; so at more than $100 each, we’ve spent $3.5bn on literally nothing.".
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The introduction to our Special Issue on #BasicIncome in @JSociology is out and open access. Thanks to @fabiancann for guiding us through.
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As we -finally- go to the polls its time to take #ClimateJustice seriously. Looking forward to being on the campaign trail w @Chetan_Sydney
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This is me (about 21) w @Sylvie_E moving into Darlington. Tomorrow we move back to the hood :)
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Is this a hint the Coalition is about to abolish federal funding for private schools. ? 🤔.
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There's an economic crisis. But not quite the one Perrottet means. It's a crisis of #inequality. No lack of wealth, but poverty amidst plenty #nswpremier #HomesForAll #RaiseTheRate.
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Outrageous, yet has become unremarkable. Rising unemployment, sky-rocketing house prices. This is how inequality works.
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Why is the ballot for #greens leader tomorrow? In the middle of debating member vote, no election soon. There's time for #democracy #auspol.
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'A large part of the solution to breaking this cycle is financial.' Great piece on the way out of lock down and illness. It's not harder lockdown, it is supporting people to understand and isolate. Stingy payments are costing us all.
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And again after a long day moving.
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A Menzies budget tobe proud of. Lots of private subsidies, a bit of Keynesian economics, reinforcing deserving/undeserving poor divide and building an economy fit for the 50s. Shame its #Budget2020.
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Labor might not guarantee real wages will rise, but it sounds like the Coalition are promising they will go down. Because a strong economy means you must be poorer. And apparently that's good politics 🤔.
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The magic comes from competition. As more homes are built, supply increases, creating competition that bids down prices. But it’s not *much* magic. Prices often don’t fall. Even when they do, they fall by much less than the windfall gains made through rezoning.
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Full house to hear the amazing @MehreenFaruqi set out a vision for a sustainable and just future #auspol2019
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We already do this a *little*. It's called inclusionary zoning. Proposals to automatically rezone everything can undercut inclusionary zoning by gifting those rights without any conditions (NB developers support this approach 😉).
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@MattCowgill @E61Institute Isn't the main problem that we know ATAR is a class proxy. So of course it's related to future income. Not saying it can't be pathway for some working class kids, but at macro level it reflects existing class patterns.
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Great thread, and this helps sum up the biggest flaw in our current policing approach. There is a lot more we can do by #PayPeopleToStayHome and ensuring employers provide safe workplaces, but policing parks is not good policy.
Discussions about outdoor transmission risk in a nutshell: . Actual risk of transmission outdoors vs. attention paid to it
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Great to see the impact of fellow @AusBasicIncome directors @elisejklein and @TroyCHenderson (alongside many others) pushing our policy conversion forward. And exciting to see genuine debate on ending poverty.
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How housing wealth and finance are changing the role of the welfare state, esp. in times of crisis. 'Comparing asset based welfare capitalism' just out with @HousingJournal w @garethjbryant and Adam Stebbing.@MQ_Sociology @socsci_mq #inequality.
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This puts #unicuts in context. Squeezing public universities to make room for private competitors. Stepping stones to a US uni system.
And this: “A vibrant and competitive private higher education sector ensures Australians have more choice and opportunity in education” Mr Tehan said yesterday. #SavePublicUniversities @NTEUNational.
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