Handicap banks to level out the field
The big banks now dominate the Australian financial system in the same way that the Melbourne Storm dominated the rugby league. They take the profits they made last year and they use them to fend off new competitors next year. They take the profits they earn in one part of their business and cross subsidise the prices they charge in the parts of the market where they are actually facing competition. Just as it isn’t ‘good for the game’ to see the same clubs always winning, it’s not good for customers or the economy to see a small number of banks rake in record profits year after year. It’s time our governments and regulators put some lead in the saddlebags of the big four banks. Nobody wants them to go broke, but everyone would be better off if there was a level playing field.
Related documents
Between the Lines Newsletter
The biggest stories and the best analysis from the team at the Australia Institute, delivered to your inbox every fortnight.
You might also like
New political donations laws will help level the playing field and afford fairer elections to all Tasmanians
In June, a joint Parliamentary Committee published recommendations that would significantly reform Australian electoral law.
Green Coal and Scams | Between the Lines
The Wrap with Richard Denniss Is something better than nothing, or do we always need to be on the lookout for ways to do better? Should we be proud that the Matildas made the semi-finals or should we be aiming to win the World Cup? Should Government policy be focussed on the politics of today
Leading Civil Society Organisations Publish Open Letter Calling for Long Overdue Political Finance Reforms
Australia’s leading civil society organisations have today published a full-page ad in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Australian Financial Review and Canberra Times newspapers, calling for long overdue political finance reforms to make politics fairer and more transparent.