Research Fellow, Economics Program
Oliver’s area of expertise is local government and federalism, urban economics, European affairs and Industry policy. He was previously, the Chief Economist at the British think tank, Policy Exchange, London. His publications with Policy Exchange mainly dealt with housing and planning, urban regeneration and transport policy. Before that he worked as an adviser to Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay in the UK House of Lords.
He studied Business Administration and Economics at Bochum University (Germany). Oliver has a Master’s Degree and a PhD in Law at the universities of Bochum and Sydney (Australia).
Posted: 8:00 am on 29th April 2012
In looking at Europe, Australia may well see its own future. In some ways, Australia is just 20 or 30 years behind the developments in the Old Continent. Australia’s population is also ageing, albeit starting from a younger level. Australian governments have recently relapsed into financing their massive public spending increases on borrowing, just as European governments did in the 1970s and 1980s. And Australian government programs now sound as…
Posted: 11:17 am on 12th April 2012
I have moved countries several times before, and each time it felt like I was closing a chapter and beginning to write a new one. As I make my moving arrangements, I am excited (and even a bit scared) about this plunge into the world of ideas in New Zealand. The only certainty at this moment is that this chapter of my life in Australia is about to end. Although…
Posted: 8:00 am on 7th April 2012
Thursday was Tax Freedom Day, the day when the average Australian has theoretically paid off his taxes and starts to earn money for himself for the rest of the year. So congratulations! Government this year is only confiscating roundabout a third of your income. If this was a reason to celebrate, it’s only because most other developed countries have a much higher tax burden. The citizens of France, Germany, Britain…
Posted: 8:00 am on 19th March 2012
Ranking high on the ever-growing list of books I want to read is Charles Murray’s latest work, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960–2010. Although I haven’t read the book, its central message, as discussed in numerous reviews, seems fairly clear: Upper and lower classes are increasingly living in different worlds. Whereas the rich are celebrating their cultured lifestyle in closely guarded enclaves, the poor are finding themselves in…
Posted: 8:00 am on 26th February 2012
The wheels of justice grind slowly, but perhaps even more so in Australia. Comparing the speed of Fair Work Australia’s investigation into Labor backbencher Craig Thomson to a snail’s pace is unfair to common molluscs. Following the three-year-long inquiry into Thomson’s alleged misuse of a union credit card is rather like watching tectonic plates drift. Does it really need to be this way? Is this how such affairs should be…
