All News

Since the Global Financial Crisis, unemployment has dropped to low levels in most of the developed world at least. That’s fantastic. It needs to continue.

One of the important factors in this positive trend seems to be the evolution of work arrangements that enable quick responses to fast-moving markets and consumers. Flexible work creates work! But this gets regulation-lovers worried. They reckon that if work isn’t controlled through government regulation, there’s got to be something wrong. Currently their focus is on the so-called ‘gig’ economy. Apparently, it’s a big ‘problem’ that needs a solution.  More...

Some claim that freelancing, self-employment, whatever you want to call it, is surging in developed economies. For example: More...

On Friday ‘The Trump’ becomes US President leading to, who knows? Meanwhile, Putin outmanoeuvres everyone as the master puppeteer of the Syrian ‘solution’. Ultimately it’s about oil? Chinese President Xi Jinping is the star attraction at the Davos capitalist soiree. That’s unsurprising! Based on purchasing power comparisons, China is now the world’s largest economy. The British pound is travelling south due to Brexit. Several pending elections in European countries could well see further disintegration of the EU.

From these snapshots the only thing we can say about economic certainty is that we live in a period of economic uncertainty! So do global forces make us powerless? No! More...

Against a backdrop of 'revolutionary' social and political developments in 2016, ICA Executive Director Ken Phillips has posted a new blog which looks at the prospects for the new world of work in the year ahead. Noting the seemingly unstoppable growth of all forms of self-employment, Ken also examines some of the adverse reactions to self-employment and surveys some recent (and quite diverse) academic discussion about the value of 'being your own boss'. You can read Ken's full blog post here. More...

This month, ICA Executive Director Ken Phillips has an article in Flying Solo explaining why the new unfair contract laws for small business people are so significant. It’s a rather timely article because the ACCC has just released a new guide to the laws.

It’s worth being aware of your rights as a ‘solo’ business person under these new laws. These Australian laws are a global first. It’s these sort of laws that will make the ‘gig’ economy fairer and hence sustainable as a new business model.  More...

The stock market gyrations of the last week-or-so were somewhat crazy. From a panic crash to creeping back to ‘normal’? It all seemed to relate to speculation about China.

The follow-up analysis is as up-and-down as was the stock market. The blog ‘Peak Prosperity’ is VERY pessimistic about China, saying China’s debt is now 300 per cent of GDP and in Spanish/Greek territory. And there’s an even more pessimistic assessment saying that China’s economic data is unreliable.  More...

The Australian union movement has this week been debating its future. It’s worried. Its membership in the private sector is plunging below 14 per cent of the workforce (less than 17 per cent overall). It’s frantic that new disruptive technologies such as Uber, job networking, crowd-sourced funding and more will create an explosion in self-employment. It is horrified that people will become their own bosses!  More...

ICA has previously discussed the dire situation facing self-employed people in Massachusetts. It is clear that its anti-self-employment laws are blatantly discriminatory. If anything, the situation in 'mad Massachusetts' seems to be getting worse. Our friends at ‘New Jobs for Massachusetts’ have provided us with a story about ‘Heinz’, a specialist electrical contractor who tried to set up business in Massachusetts. He was literally forced to leave the state because of its ‘dumb’ laws. And now it appears that franchise operations are in disarray because of those same anti-contractor laws.  More...

In recent times we've heard of a number of cases where local tax authorities have made it difficult to engage independent contractors. This sort of story is not confined to Australia. In fact, it is common and global. I had several days of discussion with the Professional Contractors Group in London last week. Their tax problems under IR35 continue unabated. More...

 I’ve just spent this last week at a global small business conference in Macau.  Attendance was largely from the Asian region with a smattering of others from across the globe. Although the conference was about small business issues, discussion took place within the context of understanding the broader economic environment. There was a range of impressive presentations, mostly from Asia-based speakers to a packed auditorium. More...