NEP Polls
Waste Policy - August 2018
Poll 32
"There are clear net benefits for Australians from (further) increasing the diversion of waste from Australian landfills."
Responses (16)
Banking Royal Commission and the Credit Crunch - October 2018
Poll 33
Proposition 1: "There is a significant risk that, either as a result of the findings and recommendations of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry or as a result of the financial institutions' response to those findings, credit will become less readily available to Australian households or businesses."
Proposition 2: "Assuming credit becomes less readily available to Australian households or businesses, this will in turn have adverse consequences for the performance of the Australian economy."
Responses (24)
Gig economy and worker welfare - February 2018
Poll 26
"The wages and conditions of Australian workers providing services in sectors affected by the rapid growth of digital on-demand subcontracting platforms will, on average, be expected to fall without further government intervention."
Responses (31)
Journalism as a public good - January 2018
Poll 25
Proposition 1: "The modern phenomena of information overload and social-media-fuelled 'fake news' bring into focus the value of quality journalism. Quality journalism has a public-good dimension that warrants public support."
Proposition 2: "The Australian government presently provides funding for the ABC and SBS, Australia's independent public broadcasters. The Australian government should increase its financial support of quality journalism."
Responses (36)
Same sex marriage - November 2017
Poll 24
"Assuming that the law will be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry in Australia, this will generate net economic benefits for the nation as a whole over the next 10 years."
Responses (30)
Robots, artificial intelligence and the 'future of work' - October 2017
Poll 23
Question A: "Holding labor market institutions and job training fixed, rising use of robots and artificial intelligence is likely to increase substantially the number of workers in Australia who are unemployed for long periods."
Question B: "Rising use of robots and artificial intelligence in Australia is likely to create benefits large enough that they could be used to compensate those workers who are substantially negatively affected for their lost wages."
Responses (33)
Public borrowing for infrastructure investment - September 2017
Poll 22
"As interest rates are at low levels by historical standards, federal and state governments, despite their public debt levels, should be borrowing more than they currently are to invest in infrastructure"
Responses (32)
The Finkel Review - August 2017
Poll 21
"The Finkel Review has recommended a mandatory certificate scheme that obliges electricity retailers to purchase a certain proportion of the electricity they sell from sources of electricity whose emission intensity is below a defined level. This is preferable to conventional approaches to the pricing of externalities, such as an emission tax or cap and trade scheme."
Responses (26)
Does privatisation of human services hurt outcomes? - July 2017
Poll 20
"For-profit provision of human services like health and education leads to poor client outcomes and high costs to government."
Responses (30)
Gender diversity in the workplace - role of government? - June 2017
Poll 19
"The recent Parliamentary Inquiry into "Gender segregation in the workplace and its impact on women's economic equality" was asked to examine measures to encourage women?s participation in male-dominated occupations and industries. Although there is growing awareness of the productivity gains of gender diversity, the private market alone is unlikely to steer the Australian labour market toward gender equality in male-dominated industries. Breaking down gender segregation in the labour market can only be achieved with some degree of government intervention."
Responses (28)
Australian Federal Budget 2017 - Outsourcing Economic Forecasting - May 2017
Poll 18
"Given the Commonwealth Treasury?s ongoing difficulty in making accurate forecasts of some of the key economic variables underpinning the Budget ? in particular nominal GDP growth ? the Government should ?outsource? the economic forecasts used in framing the Budget to an independent agency (such as the Parliamentary Budget Office), as now happens in the United Kingdom."
Responses (34)
Energy shortages - reserving Australian gas - April 2017
Poll 17
"In response to energy shortages around Australia, government policies requiring gas producers to reserve some production for domestic consumption are a good way to ensure that Australian consumers have access to sufficient gas supplies while still allowing for gas exports."
Responses (31)
CGT deductions - March 2017
Poll 16
"Capital gains tax deductions for housing investment should be removed because they overstimulate the housing market, contributing to rising house prices."
Responses (27)
Economics teaching - micro before macro - February 2017
Poll 15
"It is more effective to teach an introductory course in micro-economics first before an introductory course in macro-economics."
Responses (30)
Social costs of gambling - December 2016
Poll 14
"The social costs of gambling exceed the benefits (including consumer surplus from recreational gambling and tax revenue for governments)."
Responses (27)
2016 US Election - November 2016
Poll 13
"Hillary Clinton is likely to be the superior US presidential candidate for the Australian economy and for Australia."
Responses (35)
Immigration - November 2016
Poll 12
'The total benefit of current levels* of migration to Australia will outweigh the total costs to Australia's economy'.
Responses (30)
Behavioural economics - September 2016
Poll 11
Part 1: 'Behavioural economics provides new and useful insights into individual behaviour.'
Part 2: 'It is unethical for governments to use behavioural economics to "nudge" citizens.'
Responses (66)
RBA economic growth targets - August 2016
Poll 10
"The Reserve Bank of Australia should be tasked with targeting nominal economic growth rather than inflation."
Responses (29)
The Brexit - impact on UK citizens - July 2016
Poll 9
"Assuming it is implemented, Brexit will deliver net economic benefits, on average, to UK citizens within its first 5 years."
Responses (34)
Spend on education or business tax cut - June 2016
Poll 8
"Australia will receive a bigger economic growth dividend in the long-run by spending on education than offering an equivalent amount of money on a tax cut to business."
Responses (30)
Budget 2016-17 - Returning to surplus - May 2016
Poll 7
"The recently released 2016-17 Commonwealth Budget projects that the Australian Government's underlying cash balance will return to surplus by 2020?21*. Australian politicians should rebalance the budget with greater urgency."
Responses (22)
China services boom for Australia? - April 2016
Poll 6
"As the Chinese economy makes its transition from investment-led to consumption led growth, the Australian service sector which currently accounts for around 20% of total exports, will produce a second 'Chinese economic windfall' for Australians."
Responses (33)
Efficiency of tax Government investments in major sporting events - February/March 2016
Poll 5
"Government investments in major sporting events usually generate net benefits for the city or region where the investment is made."
Responses (25)
Efficiency of tax incentives - February 2016
Poll 4
"New tax incentives for investments in technology and innovation businesses and start-ups are likely to be inefficient."
Responses (29)