Will Pearson

As the 2026 Federal Budget looms, debate has intensified around tax concessions on investment properties. Currently, both negative gearing and a capital gains tax (CGT) discount apply to investment properties under certain conditions, although the federal government is considering removing these concessions, due to them disproportionately benefitting high-income earners and likely contributing to rising housing costs. Negative gearing is the situation where, across a financial year, the...

The risk-free rate of return is a fundamental concept when it comes to understanding economic behaviour across time. It is deeply intertwined with our perception of time and impatience, when it comes to making decision of how we spend our income across time. Our analysis begins with the intertemporal consumer problem. We have some consumer/household representing all consumers in the economy, that aims to maximise their utility (happiness) across their lifetime through purchasing units of an...