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Ron Manners’ ideas
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Forty years of farming

6 June 2018  •  Ron Manners AO

My father, Chas Manners, was trained for farming at the Ballarat Agricultural College with a long-term view to run the Manners’ family farm …

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Let Public Choice Theory solve political puzzles

1 May 2018  •  Ron Manners AO

The good news is that an accredited Public Choice Theory course will be available from The University of Notre Dame Australia in Fremantle …

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Australia: Four Decades – Full Circle

23 April 2018  •  Ron Manners AO

There's a good reason why my book Heroic Misadventures is subtitled ‘Australia: Four Decades - Full Circle’. In the 1970s we saw Australia’s …

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What would Thomas Jefferson say?

13 April 2018  •  Ron Manners AO

Today's guest writer, and birthday boy, is Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826). Jefferson was the third President of the US and principal author …

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Good government needs good policies: Why not try Enterprise Zones?

9 April 2018  •  Ron Manners AO

In the dying days of the Malcolm Fraser Government, MP Malcolm called his team together and asked for ideas that might win them …

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Canberra is 200 square kilometres, surrounded by reality!

7 April 2018  •  Ron Manners AO

In 2011, Canberra was named as the growth driver for Australia’s economy, even outpacing Western Australia at the time. Home building, new mortgages and …

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Aussie rules and economics

3 April 2018  •  Ron Manners AO

Once at an economics conference I got into a lively discussion. We compared last century to an AFL game. Split into four quarters, …

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Do you want a ‘strong’ dollar or a ‘weak’ dollar?

27 February 2018  •  Ron Manners AO

Which is best? Each day we read of special interest groups demanding government policies that will deliver either a ‘strong’ or ‘weak’ dollar. They …

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Growing up on the Goldfields: Part 2

6 February 2018  •  Ron Manners AO

Haven’t read part 1? Catch up here. It all begins in Kalgoorlie... Here’s one of those success stories that so often begin in …

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Reagan: A tribute to the 40th US President

6 February 2018  •  Ron Manners AO

Ronald Reagan was US president from 1981-1989 and during that time he led America back to a more conservative view, one which hadn’t …

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