In March this year Australia and New Zealand will celebrate the 30th anniversary of a trade agreement known as Closer Economic Relations (CER). Few Australians and New Zealanders are likely to notice…
The true value of art cannot be measured by economic standards.
Flickr/TruShu
In 2012, public debate over the value of art and culture has reignited as conservative state governments in Victoria and Queensland cut arts funding from their budgets.
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman…
Robert F Kennedy thought it a mistake to equate success with what we produce.
RFK Wharehouse
Economists are regularly criticised for worrying about gross domestic product (GDP) and similar measures. The classic statement of the case was by Robert F Kennedy:
“Too much and too long, we seem to…
Arguments against taxing the super rich are centred around the notion that wealth encourages investment and creates jobs. But what about the effects of income inequality?
R SH
In a widely anticipated forthcoming book, Edward Conard – a former Bain Capital colleague of Mitt Romney’s – has advanced the arguments that investment drives economic growth, and that deregulation and…
What would Marx (left) and Engels say about capitalism’s current predicament?
Marcio Cabral de Moura
The current economic crisis has renewed interest in alternative economic ideas. Most conspicuously, Keynesianism has returned from the margins. Unfortunately, particularly in Europe, policymakers quickly…
Policy or populism? Wayne Swan may be locking himself into a misguided stance on returning to surplus.
AAP
It is just possible that the Federal Government’s public statements about the need to get back, at all costs, to a budget surplus for the 2012-13 year are based on a grim view of the intelligence of the…
Joint Nobel Prize in Economics winners Christopher Sims and Thomas Sargent have contributed a body of work over decades.
AAP
Princeton University professor Christopher Sims and New York University economist Thomas Sargent have been jointly named the 2011 winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics (or, for the purists, the Sveriges…
Big sporting events often make a loss, but the locals still enjoy the party.
AFP/Franck Fife
RUGBY WORLD CUP – In the latest of The Conversation’s series on the Rugby World Cup, Massey University’s Sam Richardson looks at the costs and benefits to the host country New Zealand.
New Zealand has…
Planting the idea: Opposition Leader Tony Abbott opposes a carbon tax.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
The big question about the carbon tax is not whether it’s a good or a bad idea in theory.
The major issue is whether it makes sense for Australia to implement it at a time of great uncertainty, both in…
Universities must ensure that their discoveries are put into practice.
AAP
Over the last few weeks, the cost of upheaval in the manufacturing sector has become ever more visible.
BlueScope Steel is to shed 1,000 employees while OneSteel has announced the loss of 400 manufacturing…
Boom to bailout: Ireland’s economic implosion shows the consequences of unfettered policy.
AAP
This year’s Economic Society of Australia conference saw a range of strong views expressed on what Australian policy makers have managed to get broadly right (carbon tax – hurrah!) and wrong (NBN – boo…
Treasury Secretary Dr Martin Parkinson has said boosting Australia’s productivity is essential.
AAP
In his address to the Economic and Social Outlook Conference last week, Treasury Secretary Dr Martin Parkinson called for a renewed focus on boosting Australia’s falling productivity to ensure living standards…
Good financial inclusion measures will protect consumers from predatory lenders.
Flickr/rinkjustice
The Australian government has begun to focus on the issue of financial inclusion, as reflected by an allocation of $60.6 million in this year’s federal budget.
This follows earlier government support…
In recent years productivity growth in Australia has been in alarming decline.
A series of government reports have identified some of the causes: infrastructure and skills inadequacies, bottlenecks and…
