All our Links: https://linktr.ee/centreforindependentstudies Listen to this recording of our thought-provoking CIS event that explored the complexities of Australian identity, politics, and social cohesion. The event featured engaging discussions with special guests Nyunggai Warren Mundine, Dr. Tanveer Ahmed and Damien Freeman.

Held after the historic 2023 referendum, which saw a 60/40 rejection of the Voice, the conversation examines the deepening divisions in Australian society. As public opinion shifted before the vote, broader concerns about cultural and political fractures came to the forefront. The speakers tackled important questions about the accusations of racism, the rise of populism and identity politics, and whether Australia’s social fabric is fraying in an era of diminishing trust and growing polarization.

What does it mean to be Australian in the 21st century? What unites us as a nation, and how do we nurture the social cohesion for which Australia has been known?

The discussion featured:

• Damien Freeman, writer, lawyer, philosopher, and author of The End of Settlement.
• Nyunggai Warren Mundine, Director of the Indigenous Forum at CIS and co-editor of Beneath the Southern Cross.
• Dr. Tanveer Ahmed, psychiatrist, author, and columnist for the Australian Financial Review.
• Peter Kurti, Director of the Culture, Prosperity & Civil Society program at CIS and co-editor of Beneath the Southern Cross.

This recording captures their insights and reflections on the key issues shaping Australia's future. #Australia #AustralianPolitics #VoiceReferendum #IdentityPolitics #SocialCohesion #AusPol #WarrenMundine #CulturalDebate #Populism #Unity #IndigenousVoice #Referendum2023 #NationalIdentity #BreakingNews #TrendingNow #PoliticalDebate #CurrentAffairs

The Rise of Activist Corporations: How activism agendas subsumed shareholder primacy

by Peter Swan AO

September 26, 2024

Australian companies have been shifting from a purely shareholder focus to a much vaguer, less accountable, and damaging stakeholder focus for many years. One important byproduct of this decline in shareholder focus has been former shareholder resources moving into ‘social responsibility’, corporate activism, and promotion of political and popular causes that are often antithetical to the interests of corporations’ own shareholders. This has resulted in many corporations becoming ‘woke’. Read the paper here: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/the-rise-of-activist-corporations-how-activism-agendas-subsumed-shareholder-primacy/

#auspol #woke

Watch here: https://youtu.be/C45cbnu3Q1k All our links: https://linktr.ee/centreforindependentstudies

In this eye-opening interview, Robert Forsyth sits down with Nicholas Eberstadt, a leading expert on North Korea and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, to dissect the origins and implications of North Korea's unique family dictatorship. The conversation delves into how the Kim dynasty has maintained an iron grip on the country through a blend of political strategy and cult of personality.

What are the roots of North Korea's dynastic rule? How has the regime's approach influenced its domestic and international policies? Robert and Nicholas explore these questions and provide an in-depth analysis of how the Kim family's authoritarian control has shaped North Korean society and its interactions with the world. #northkorea #libertarian #democracy #history

The Rise of Activist Corporations with Peter Swan - Interviewed by Emilie Dye.

Australian companies have been shifting from a purely shareholder focus to a much vaguer, less accountable, and damaging stakeholder focus for many years. One important byproduct of this decline in shareholder focus has been former shareholder resources moving into ‘social responsibility’, corporate activism, and promotion of political and popular causes that are often antithetical to the interests of corporations’ own shareholders. This has resulted in many corporations becoming ‘woke’.

Read the paper here: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/the-rise-of-activist-corporations-how-activism-agendas-subsumed-shareholder-primacy/

Watch here: https://youtu.be/vr3lSCpaK2o All our links: https://linktr.ee/centreforindependentstudies

Join Robert Forsyth in this enlightening interview with Dr. Jonathan Cole, a distinguished scholar and passionate advocate of classical liberalism. Dr. Cole shares his personal journey of conversion to classical liberalism, tracing the profound impact Ludwig von Mises had on his intellectual transformation and understanding of economic and political philosophy.

In this engaging discussion, Dr. Cole reflects on his intellectual evolution, the key principles of classical liberalism, and how Mises' ideas continue to shape contemporary debates on freedom, markets, and individual rights. Robert and Dr. Cole delve into the relevance of Mises' theories in today’s political climate and explore how classical liberalism offers solutions to modern challenges. #auspol #mises #libertarian

Read the paper here: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/government-spending-and-inflation/ That government expenditure in Australia has grown apace in recent years is well-known. The growth became gargantuan during the coronavirus pandemic. However, to a less dramatic extent, it was happening before the pandemic — and has continued since it ended.

Some observers welcome this growth to the extent it is a reflection of new spending programs and expansion of existing programs perceived to meet legitimate needs. But it is also a matter of serious concern for reasons that include the implications for higher taxation and public debt, the effect on incentives and the diversion of scarce resources away from alternative and higher productivity activities.

Recently, attention has turned to the impact of higher public spending on inflation as monetary policy struggles to restore inflation to its target. Specifically, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has spoken of the high level of aggregate demand relative to the economy’s potential output. The RBA has drawn attention to the relatively rapid growth of public final demand as a contributor to excessive aggregate demand —­ although the Governor has also stated that public sector demand “is not the main game” in the policy response to persistent inflation.

This policy paper presents the key facts about public expenditure growth in recent years and discusses its contribution to inflation.

All our links: https://linktr.ee/centreforindependentstudies All Things Considered. Making Moral Sense of the Wars in Ukraine and Gaza by Nigel Biggar. Read the paper here: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/all-things-considered-making-moral-sense-of-the-wars-in-ukraine-and-gaza/

The pacifist answer to the problem of #war is straightforward. Any use of violent force by anybody in any circumstances is immoral and should cease. War is always worse than its alternatives; peace is always preferable. This is not a view to which I subscribe. We all want peace, but at what cost and to whom? If those who believe in the possibility of morally justified war have to reckon with the dreadful consequences of their position, so do pacifists. Not going to war in 1994 was good for Britons and Australians, but not so good for the Tutsi in Rwanda: our staying at peace left the Hutu at peace to slaughter 800,000 of them. Peace, like war, is morally complicated.

The war in #Ukraine has resulted in the widespread devastation of the country. Russian president Vladimir Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons hangs over it, and it seems unlikely that the Ukrainians can triumph over Russia. So, surely it would have been better, if Kyiv had not resisted in the first place. And would it not be best, if it were to stop resisting now?

Meanwhile in #Gaza the civilian casualties of the war between Israel and Hamas continue to mount. South Africa has accused Israel of genocide, and the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has applied for a warrant to arrest the Israeli Prime Minister. And yet, it was Hamas that began the current phase of the conflict with the horrendously deliberate and indiscriminate massacre of #Israeli civilians on October 7 last year. And it is Hamas that planned to make a battlefield out of a dense urban environment, building tunnels for its gunmen but no shelters for non-combatants. And it is Hamas that is constitutionally committed to eradicating #Israel. So how are we to make coherent moral sense of the situation?

Government spending and inflation with Robert Carling - Interviewed by Emilie Dye. That government expenditure in Australia has grown apace in recent years is well-known. The growth became gargantuan during the coronavirus pandemic. However, to a less dramatic extent, it was happening before the pandemic — and has continued since it ended.

Some observers welcome this growth to the extent it is a reflection of new spending programs and expansion of existing programs perceived to meet legitimate needs. But it is also a matter of serious concern for reasons that include the implications for higher taxation and public debt, the effect on incentives and the diversion of scarce resources away from alternative and higher productivity activities.

Recently, attention has turned to the impact of higher public spending on inflation as monetary policy struggles to restore inflation to its target. Specifically, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has spoken of the high level of aggregate demand relative to the economy’s potential output. The RBA has drawn attention to the relatively rapid growth of public final demand as a contributor to excessive aggregate demand —­ although the Governor has also stated that public sector demand “is not the main game” in the policy response to persistent inflation.

Here we talk about the key facts about public expenditure growth in recent years and discuss its contribution to inflation. You can also read the policy paper here:https://www.cis.org.au/publication/government-spending-and-inflation/