Baked Banana Oatmeal Recipe

Dani Spies Youtube video for her Baked Banana Oatmeal Recipe.

Chocolate Cake Recipe

In My favourite chocolate cake Patricia Murray has published a lighter version of a readers favourite chocolate cake.

NIMBYism leading to increased inequality

In Inequality is growing in our own backyards Michael Pascoe looks at an article in The Economist by Matthew Rognlie who argues that a major cause of growing inequality is the growing cost of housing.

Pascoe posits that house owners, keen to "preserve its character", actively campaign against changes that would result in more efficient and higher density housing. This not only leads to a shortage of supply, but may also rob the owners of heritage listed buildings of dubious value the opportunity to reap the maximum returns from the value of their land.

In many of the trendier suburbs, you may well be a Green or Labor supporter who rails against inequality but also rabidly supports the imposition of heritage orders to freeze often dreary and inefficient architecture and, heaven forbid, limit or ban higher density housing for the masses.

But it's you who is creating the inequality gap.

He concludes:

But that's only part of the solution to the housing problem. If any government took that problem seriously and could ignore the rent seekers, medium density should be the default option for cities like Sydney. Anyone with a suitably sized block of land or any group of willing neighbours should be able to build a fashionable row of terraces instead of their isolated boxes, if they so wish.

Those who prefer their own quarter acre would, of course, be welcome to it, and the land tax that it would incur in a rational nation interested in sensible tax reform.

So put your hand up if you're genuinely interested in a fairer society, in preventing increasing inequality, in making housing more affordable for your children, in living in a more efficient, greener city with better infrastructure, and, effectively, freezing housing prices and restoring individual property rights?

I think I just lost the owner-occupier and NIMBY vote.

I think Pascoe has nailed one of the main reasons for the high cost of housing in Australia.

Rachel Khoo's lemon lava cake

In Cooking with Rachel Khoo in my Little Melbourne Kitchen Annabel Smith gets to cook a lemon lava cake with Rachel Khoo.

Make your own Nutella

Jill Dupleix has a recipe for Home-made Nutella.

Blue cheese and spinach quesadilla

Jill Dupleix's Blue cheese quesadilla has spinach as well.

Do Americans think Australia is racist because there are so few black people here?

In Derek Rielly: why Americans think Australia is racist Derek Rielly explains that Americans wonder where all the black people are, but fail to note people of other races such as Asians and Indians.

How the government spent our boom

In How the Budget was mugged (Treasury publishes the photo) Peter Davidson has a great graph, taken from a speech by the Treasury Secretary John Fraser, showing the impact of our unexpected revenue windfalls, spending decisions and tax cuts on the federal budget:

The following chart, included in his slides, shows how the windfall revenue gains from the boom between 2002 to 2008 (grey bars, circled by me) were spent (green, blue and red bars).

Basically much of the boom was spent on personal income tax cuts and public support for people who didn't need it (via mechanisms such as superannuation tax breaks and the Seniors Supplement).

A brief history of tax

Peter Davidson has prepared a brief history of tax:

A brief history of tax: Part 1 Income tax, the great leveller
A brief history of tax, Part 2: Clash of the titans
A brief history of tax (Part 3): the trojan horse

Performance reviews aren't performing

In Performance reviews: Get rid of them Samuel Culbert argues that we might be better off without them.

What's now good to eat

In Why you should never eat a bacon sandwich: what you can - and can't - eat Anna van Praagh document some of the latest thinking on what's good and not good to eat.

Chocolate Yogurt Mini Cheesecakes recipe

Dani Spies' Chocolate Yogurt Mini Cheesecakes.

Raspberry Ice Cream

Dani Spies' Raspberry Ice Cream.

Freezing bananas

Dani Spies shows How-To Freeze Bananas.

Make your own vegetable stock

Dani Spies shows How-To Make Veggie Stock.

Sweet Potato Chips

Dani Spies' Baked Sweet Potato Fries.

Mint Mint Chocolate Chip Ice-Cream (with spinach)

Dani Spies' Clean Eating Mint Chocolate Chip Ice-Cream.

Banana Ice Cream

Dani Spies' Clean Eating Banana Ice Cream.

Strawberry spinach salad

Dani Spies' Clean Eating Strawberry Spinach Salad.

Making pickles

Dani Spies shows how to make pickle cucumber.