Australian Land Use – Why change?

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences predicts that global demand for food will increase by 77% in the next 40 years but Australia’s share of global food exports will fall from 4% to 3%. Source AFR 040612.

The Australian Farm Institute has found that Australia’s agricultural production is among the most volatile in the world – and agriculture is almost the most volatile sector of our economy – to capture the benefits of increased food demand, farmers and processors need to invest in productivity improvements and the development of under-utilised land – but these investments must be made as farmers face climate variability, reduced public investment in R&D, and in commodity markets that are volatile. Source AFR 040612.

For the shock jocks to think about: You should feel good to pay taxes!

Research in Italy – says “People pay taxes because it feels good”. The study included thousands of Italians, the researchers discovered that a greater willingness to pay taxes is associated with greater levels of personal happiness – this finding that dovetails with research showing that tax cheating has psychological costs such as guilt and a diminished self-image – of Italians surveyed, 79% said they strongly felt that paying taxes is one of the duties of citizenship. Sourced HBR 120512. So what is wrong Australia, why do you feel so miserable?

Are we alone on Carbon Tax (or is it price in Australia)?

Carbon taxes around the world: China is planning a carbon tax on big energy consumers by 2015 – some provinces have already introduced a carbon tax – in the US there is no nationwide tax although a few states have introduced the tax – Canada does not have a federal carbon tax, but some Canadian provinces and states do have carbon taxes – India has introduced a nationwide carbon tax of 50 rupees per tonne ($1.07) on coal both produced and imported – South Korea introduced a national carbon tax in 2008 – Japan does not have a carbon tax but is planning to implement one – the European Union enacted an emissions trading scheme in 2005 – several European countries have enacted a carbon tax, including Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. Sourced: SBS World News 160512. We are not alone, so good!