Find below a very readable and, in my view, very important piece of research launched today by The Australia Institute called “Too much of good thing”.
The piece argues that Australia should use a mine auction permit system to slow the mining boom. It suggest such a system would:
- better capture the economic rents for tax payers currents enjoyed by miners
- reduce the self-defeating impact of mass mine development leading to large price corrections for the underlying commodities
- retain a more diversified industrial base for the nation beyond the boom
Advertisement
I suggest everyone read this document in full. It it clear and easy to follow. The only critique I would make is the assumption that the current retail correction is a consequence of the mining boom. While that may be true at the margin, a correction in the levels of national credit growth that drives consumer spending was inevitable anyway.
