No Crap App: w/b 21 Jan 2013

Pat Campbell, Canberra Times 26 Jan 2013

The political year ahead

• GrogsGamut / Greg Jericho: All hoax aside, the political year is upon us
• Michael Gawenda: Time wrought Gillard’s transformation
• Gay Alcorn: Media’s character put to the test in federal election campaign
• Piping Shrike: Compulsion
• Alex White: What Labor can learn from Obama in 2013
• John Watson: No safety in numbers
• Peter van Onselen: Fur to fly as dogfight begins anew

Nova Peris selection

• Geoff Kitney [$]: PM leads into election with symbolic strike
• Geoff Winestock [$]: Assumption of bias may be act of hubris
• Suzanne Smith: Nova Peris a breath of fresh air for NT politics
• Christian Kerr: The politics of star power
• Michael Gordon: PM’s captain pick may end a sorry chapter in Labor history
• Jack Waterford: Peris not the patsy they expect

Australia Day

• Sarah Burnside: History isn’t a balance sheet
• Nick Bryant: “Vision thing” needs some American oomph
• Don Watson: Good on us

No Crap App: w/b 7 Jan 2013

Moir, SMH 7 Jan 2013

Economists and economic reform

• Peter Martin: When a guess is as good as a forecast
• David Uren: The old masters and ordinary apprentices

Abbott and Gillard

• Stephanie Peatling: Image is everything for leaders*
• Peter van Onselen: Why the Libs won’t change their chief
• Eva Cox: Tony Abbott – a confused, conservative sexist but not a misogynist

The Greens

• Peter Brent: The Greens are economic vandals!
• Judith Ireland: Just how different can the Greens afford to be?

Optional preferential voting

• Christian Kerr: Electoral change may tick the right boxes for some
• Antony Green: The case for optional preferential voting
• Antony Green: The impact of optional preferential voting on the informal vote

The election

• Jennifer Rayner: Will big data change the 2013 election?

*Disclaimer: This excellent article includes political commentary from me 🙂

No Crap App: w/b 17 Sept 2012

Moir, SMH 19 Sept 2012

The week that was….

Considered political analysis was thin on the ground for most of this week, obsessed as the media was with rogue polls, rogue MPs and a predictable parliamentary defeat for marriage equality.

Thankfully, the Friday and weekend columns delivered some quality analysis on where the Government and the Opposition go from here, much of which you will find below.

I’ve also included a number of think-pieces as well as informative pieces from our trusted economics translators Jericho, Irvine and Megalogenis.

Where from here?

• Michael Gordon: PM’s fightback is built on carbon and Our politics has entered a new phase of uncertainty
• Barrie Cassidy: Move over carbon tax, a fresh debate is underway
• Laurie Oakes: NSW Labor’s ‘blitz’ will be a test case
• Laura Tingle [free]: Fiscal paralysis points to a spent force
• Dennis Atkins: Popular wave of support puts Labor at ease
• Christian Kerr: Closer polls expose Coalition infighting
• Geoff Kitney [free]: Labor odour wafts Abbott’s way

For pondering

• Michael Gawenda: What lies beneath Canberra’s silence?
• Tim Dunlop: What sort of country are we?
• Paul Kelly: ‘No’ vote fires the opening salvo

Economics for non-economists

• GrogsGamut / Greg Jericho: US quantitative easing a point of interest for RBA
• Jessica Irvine: Why higher taxes could be a good thing
• George Megalogenis: GST no better than its forebears

Sunday addition

• Samantha Maiden: Devil in detail of Abbott’s grand plan

No Crap App: w/b 3 Sep 2012

Knight, The Punch 7 Sep 2012

The week that was…

This week we had Gonski, Cubbie and the musings of Malcolm*. There was scurrilous talk about an early election. Antony Green explained which party would benefit from going early, with only the House of Reps MPs facing the electorate.

David Marr’s Quarterly Essay on Tony Abbott was released. To even things up, The Australian did a profile on Christine Milne.

Meanwhile, Tim Dunlop and Jonathan Green did their usual sterling work in providing us with crunchy brain food.

The Government

• Laura Tingle: Crazy brave Gillard walks schools tightrope
• Simon Benson: Surrounded by danger? Simply call the crusade.
• George Megalogenis: Grand gestures need more details
• Tad Tietze: This could take a while. The slow agony of the Gillard government

The Opposition

• Laura Tingle: Abbott must cotton on – and quickly
• Laurie Oakes: Libs reap strife over cotton-pickin’ Joyce
• Peter Hartcher: Abbott cuts Joyce loose
• Norman Abjorensen: Tony abbott and the challenge of a Green-controlled Senate
• Michelle Grattan: The musings of Malcolm

Political profiles

• Matthew Denholm: Force of nature
• Extract from David Marr’s Quarterly Essay: Early elections

Food for thought

• Antony Green: In which party’s interest is an early federal election?
• Tim Dunlop: Where do internet trolls find their role models? and The Eternal Blind Spot of the Journalist Mind
• Jonathan Green: Diggers caught in the media muddle

Sunday addition

• Christian Kerr: A paler shade of Green
• Michelle Grattan: Rudd messing with Gillard’s head

*I’ve posted Turnbull’s speech on the Longer Reads page.

No Crap App: w/b 16 Apr 2012

The week that was….

Three weeks into the five week break before Parliament resumes, the media swarmed yet again to the story that required the least effort. Some called Hockey’s ‘entitlement’ speech refreshing and encouraging, others called it ‘courageous’ and an unnecessary distraction. Meanwhile, blogger Matt Cowgill’s post showed that big cuts can only be made from safety net welfare payments.

Amongst the quality pieces on the Greens, there are some insightful posts from bloggers with connections to the party.

By the weekend, many writers had turned their eye to the economy and the Government. GrogsGamut’s regular Wednesday post explained how government debt and interest rates have no connection.

There was also an excellent longer read from Mark Latham explaining why suburbanites are climate change deniers.

Hockey’s speech

• Annabel Crabb: Eye popping politics – Hockey ‘entitled’ to candour
• Michelle Grattan: A strange sense of entitlement
• Matt Cowgill: Has Joe Hockey promised the end of the Australian safety net?
• Mark Kenny: Middle class welfare will test Australia’s means
• Christian Kerr: B-Team a drag on Abbott’s progress

The Greens

• Tad Tietze / Dr_Tad: The Greens after Brown – what lies ahead?
• Piping Shrike: The problem of the “political cycle”
• Preston Towers: Shaping a new form of Greens leader in the Milne kiln
• John Warhurst: Milne’s daunting new challenge and link to the study mentioned Julia 2010 – the caretaker election
• Geoff Gallop: Is it a case of Bob Brown to Bob Katter?
• Lenore Taylor: Working for Greens and country

The economy

• Greg Jericho / GrogsGamut: Government debt and interest rates have no connection
• Laurie Oakes: Gillard rallies her troops for the final round
• Ross Peake: Gillard budgets for her own rescue
• Peter Hartcher: Rescuing the boom’s benefits
• Lenore Taylor: Abbott sweats on ALP loss to repeal the carbon tax
• George Megalogenis: Aussies leave US blokes behind in their recovery from GFC

Longer read

• Mark Latham: Mass denial