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Monday, June 29, 2015

The Brave New World

It is getting harder to love Jesus C ...
- overhearing conversation on a bus


Don’t make the mistake of thinking the Paris riots against Uber are worker versus capitalist, the attacks are rentiers versus capitalists and worker versus worker. Slow Motion tragedy of workers in 21st century ...

Using the minimum wage to stimulate the economy “like trying to get rich by picking your own pocket” [Megan McArdle]

New South Wales will see extensive machinery of government changes this week, while federally the Digital Transformation Office will launch as a flagship agency. Here are The Mandarin’s non-exhaustive picks of public sector changes that formally take effect around Australia this fiscal year.
Major public sector changes from 1 July 2015


links lemurs

The fresh round of redundancies was announced as the nation's 18,000 tax officials arrived for work on Monday morning and already there is criticism that the tax office's drive for a cheaper workforce will erode its skills base.
More Tax office executives to be culled

Rona was said to be in the running in 2012 for the job of Commissioner of Taxation after  rocketing up  the ranks of the Australian Taxation Office during her 20 years working there.
Agriculture Department boss Rona Mellor latest bureaucrat forced out

Vested interests (John Menadue 2), ‘Vested interests represent a growing and serious corruption of good governance and the development of sound public policy’


You might forget, say, about the 1960s, and about how the Court made sweeping social change for the good, despite the views of many. You might even forget your own vote in Citizens United. Regardless, saying that things are going downhill quickly doesn’t make it so. So your argument just went to hell in a handbasket

Line at the ATM in Parliament House ....  One television source is claiming 400 millions euros have been withdrawn from ATMs since the referendum was announced.
- See more at: http://marginalrevolution.com/page/3#sthash.TyryocuA.dpuf


'US' PARANOID ABOUT 'THEM' LUNCHING?


There are insiders and then, well, there are outsiders. Four self-styled outsiders in particular: the Australian Taxation Commissioner, Chris Jordan; the secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Michael Thawley; the Secretary of the Treasury, John Fraser; and the Public Service Commissioner, John Lloyd – all of whom were hired most recently from outside the Australian government.  They've been known to do lunch as "the outsiders".  But that's no reason for the rest of the department and agency heads to become paranoid. What's a little lunching between friends?  The Outsiders