SAUL ESLAKE

Economist

SAUL ESLAKE

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

Publications


Here you can find articles or essays which I have written and which have been published elsewhere

Op-ed article on proposed changes to GST revenue-sharing arrangements

Publications | 16th August 2016

Saul Eslake | Mercury | 16th August 2016 Opinion Talking Point: WA wasted all its boomtime revenue and now it wants more WHILE it is true, as West Australians keep saying, their share of total GST revenue has been unprecedently low in recent years, relative to their share of the population, there is a good reason for […]


The Australian resources boom and its aftermath – Review of ‘Balancing Act’ by George Megalogenis

Economic Policies, Publications, The Australian Economy | 15th June 2016

Saul Eslake | Quarterly Essay | Issue No 16 2016 In reply to George Megalogenis’s Quarterly Essay, Balancing Act: Australia Between Recession and Renewal. George Megalogenis writes about today’s economy with a grasp of the broad sweep of Australian history and an awareness of the social consequences of economic performance and policy – attributes which have been […]


The case for reducing the capital gain tax discount

Housing, Publications, Taxation | 7th June 2016

Article originally published in ‘Around the House’, the newsletter of Shelter NSW, a housing advocacy group, in June 2016


Lower inflation targets aren’t a good idea

Economic Policies, Publications | 17th May 2016

Article published on The Conversation website, 17th May 2016


The housing affordability trap • Inside Story

Housing, Publications | 12th May 2016

Saul Eslake | Inside Story | 12th May 2016 Falling home ownership rates are bad for households and bad for the economy, writes Saul Eslake. Governments are starting to respond, but much more can be done“A home of one’s own” – often described as the Great Australian Dream – is not a uniquely Australian aspiration, but for […]


Reflections on the 2016-17 Federal Budget

Economic Policies, Publications | 5th May 2016

Saul Eslake | The Conversation | 5th May 2016 This is a longer version of Saul Eslake’s take on the budget, on why negative gearing is still the elephant in the room for the government.Scott Morrison is very keen for his first budget to be viewed as “not just another budget” – to the point of […]


Negative gearing simply a form of ‘tax avoidance’

Housing, Publications, Taxation | 31st March 2016

Saul Eslake | The New Daily | 23rd March 2016 In a recent interview with the ABC’s Leigh Sales, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull defended negative gearing as “income tax 101”, by which he went on to explain as “a fundamental principle of tax law and has been forever that you can deduct from your income the […]


Labor’s negative gearing aims echo Coalition housing changes

Housing, Publications, Taxation | 23rd March 2016

Saul Eslake | The New Daily | 23rd March 2016 Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been vocal in decrying the Labor Opposition’s plans to restrict negative gearing to investors buying new properties, claiming it will lead to a crash in the price of existing housing. But the evidence is against this hypothesis. Over the last five […]


SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT

Speaking Engagement | Boardroom Advisory | Commissioned Report | Expert Witness



Saul Eslake spoke to Zurich Australia executives and staff at their ‘Accelerate’ conference in Sydney on 9th May 2024, covering short- and longer-term trends in major ‘advanced’ economies, China, India and Australia, with a bit of geo-politics thrown in.



“You are the best economic thinker in the country hands down”

Sheryle Bagwell, recently retired Senior Business Correspondent (and sometime Executive Producer),
ABC Radio National Breakfast


“Just want to congratulate you Saul on the unbelievably good set of slides you just presented, possibly the best I have ever seen. You have set the bar very high.”

Dr Joe Flood, Adjunct Fellow, RMIT University, Pandemicia


“Thank you very much for your excellent presentation for the Economic Society today. It is always a great pleasure to hear your eloquent, up-to-date and comprehensive talks.”

Andrew Trembath, economist, Victorian and Australian Government agencies


Request Speaking Engagement

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TESTIMONIALS

What Others Say


Australian Minister for Housing, the Hon. Clare O'Neill MP on ABC Q&A, September 2024

“We are lucky as a State to have an economist of your calibre willing to readily make yourself available to give us a clea r perception of where we are at and the direction we need to go for a better future”
Diplomatic Representative, August 2024

“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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WHAT'S NEW

Most Recent Articles, Talks and Presentations


Widening the Gap – An Intergenerational Lens on Wealth Inequality in Australia
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Housing, The Australian Economy
12th December 2024


How Victoria became one of Australia’s ‘poor states’
Economic Policies, News, Publications, The Australian Economy
25th November 2024


Elections and economies – the US and Australia
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, The Australian Economy, The Global Economy
23rd November 2024


Opening Statement to Senate Select Committee on the Tasmanian Freight Equalization Scheme
Economic Policies, Tasmania
13th November 2024


“Hiding in Plain Sight” – $180 billion of spending over four years.
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, The Australian Economy, Topics
11th November 2024


‘Tasmanian Money Matters’ – Tasmania’s Economy and Public Finances
Economic Policies, Tasmania
3rd October 2024


Challenges and Opportunities for Australian Agriculture
Commodities, The Australian Economy
1st October 2024


Negative Gearing
Economic Policies, Housing, News, Recent Media Interview, Taxation
26th September 2024


Will Anthony Albanese succeed where Bill Shorten failed in making changes to the taxation treatment of property investment?
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Housing, Taxation
26th September 2024


‘Super for housing’ is a souped-up first home owners grants scheme – and it won’t help any more than first home owners grants have
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Housing
24th September 2024


‘Super for Housing’ – a Thoroughly Bad Idea
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Housing, The Australian Economy, Topics
19th September 2024


A ‘path back to surplus’ for the Tasmanian Budget? Not really
Tasmania
17th September 2024


What’s happening in the economy – nationally and in Tasmania
Economic Policies, Tasmania, The Australian Economy
13th September 2024


LINKS

Useful Links


Below is a list of links I’ve found useful under the following broad topics

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