It is known as the Nudge unit; a government behavioural insights team, that draws on theories popularised in a bestselling book from Yale.
Following much hype and publicity, the behavioural insights team…
Treasurer Wayne Swan has unveiled an $19.4 billion deficit, but promises to be back in surplus by 2016-17.
AAP
How did the Australian economy, which boasts the best performance of the major advanced economies, end up with an estimated budget deficit of A$19 billion this year and an estimated debt of $178 billion…
Can economics really describe love? Well, it starts with greed…
Image sourced from www.shutterstock.com
Economists understand greed very well; after all, the urge to get rich is our discipline’s main explanation for human actions. Economists further recognise that greed can be good. When our greedy urges…
Data and computer code should be made publicly available at an early stage – or else …
esarastudillo
Last week we learned a famous 2010 academic paper, relied on by political big-hitters to bolster arguments for austerity cuts, contained significant errors; and that those errors came down to misuse of…
An influential economics paper — which has now been shown to have several methodological flaws — was used by policymakers to justify austerity drives around the world.
AAP
The economic literature is full of excellent articles that are not read outside small academic circles. There are, however, important exceptions. “Growth in a Time of Debt”, by Carmen R. Reinhart and Kenneth…
If there’s one thing we can say with certainty, it’s that economic forecasting is far from an exact science.
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One certainty about economic forecasts is that, almost certainly, they will prove to be incorrect. The best forecasters can hope for is not to make systematic errors – to get it right on average – and…
The great stagnation: does faltering innovation spell the end for economic growth?
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The economic profession lacks a unified theory of economic growth. Textbooks and academic journals contain a plethora of models and paradigms which generate different (and sometimes contradictory) predictions…
In a recently released report, IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard admitted that implementing austerity in Europe was a mistake.
AAP
In a rare volte-face, the International Monetary Fund this week admitted that it grossly underestimated the impact of the austerity regime it advised Europeans to adopt.
A paper authored by IMF chief…
College day betting lead to a fascination with the stockmarket for this physicist.
Dan Raustadt Flikr
The last Space Shuttle recently returned to Earth. That reminded me that 45 years ago I was undertaking a PhD in physics at Australian National University, investigating the re-entry of the space shuttle…
Stanford University’s Alvin Roth (pictured) and UCLA’s Lloyd Shapley were given the Nobel prize “for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design”.
AAP
The Nobel prize for economics is often awarded for relatively abstract theoretical work. Rather less often, it is awarded for work with clear practical relevance. This year, the committee responsible for…
Beyond charity: philanthropists want a stake in giving.
Broken Simulacra / flickr.com
The collapse of the child-care business ABC Learning in 2010 was an extraordinary chapter in Australian corporate history. Colourful Queensland businessman Eddy Groves, built the world’s largest publicly…
If the government is serious about maintaining its economic prosperity into the future, it needs to address Australia’s historically poor productivity growth.
Ann Douglas
The majority of Australians would prefer higher living standards. This can take the form of better access to better healthcare services and education, better environmental outcomes, more time for friends…
Campbell Newman’s linking of Queensland’s dire financial situation with that of Spain saw quite a backlash, but is there an underlying element of truth?
AAP
By Mark McGovern, Queensland University of Technology
Comments by Campbell Newman that Queensland was on the way to bankruptcy are, unfortunately, true. His comment that “Queensland does not have the money…” is globally true – but clearly specifically arguable…
Former politician and economist John Hewson speaks to ANU’s Crawford School’s Bruce Chapman and Daniel Connell.
Welcome to the latest in our In Conversation series, between former politician and economist Dr John Hewson, Australian National University (ANU) Crawford School Director of Policy Impact Professor Bruce…
Liam Lenten explains why the government spends your money on sport.
Welcome to Some Sports Economics, a six-part video series explaining economic concepts through sport, by La Trobe University senior lecturer, Liam Lenten.
In the sixth and final part of this series, Liam…
Welcome to Part four of Liam Lenten’s Some Sports Economics.
Welcome to Some Sports Economics, a six-part video series explaining economic concepts through sport, by La Trobe University senior lecturer, Liam Lenten.
In the fourth part of this series, Liam explains…
Welcome to Some Sports Economics, a six-part video series explaining economic concepts through sport, by La Trobe University senior lecturer, Liam Lenten.
Ever wondered why the AFL doesn’t charge more…
Welcome to Some Sports Economics, a six-part video series explaining economic concepts through sport, by La Trobe University senior lecturer, Liam Lenten.
In the second part of this series, Liam gives…
Liam Lenten presents Some Sports Economics, a six-part video which uses sporting analogies to explain common economic concepts.
YouTube
Welcome to Some Sports Economics, a six-part video series explaining economic concepts through sport, by La Trobe University senior lecturer, Liam Lenten.
Liam says: “I am motivated to better explain…
International organisation 350.org encourages the building of grass-roots movements to combat climate change.
350.org
Bob Massie, CEO of the New Economics Institute opened the recent Strategies for a New Economy conference, held at Bard College, New York with a thoughtful response to the criticism that the Occupy movement…
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…
Elinor Ostrom, the only woman to have won a Nobel prize for economics, was most famous for challenging the idea of the “tragedy of the commons”: that in the absence of government intervention, people will overuse shared resources.
acschweigert
The grand philosopher of the Commons, Elinor Ostrom, passed away on the 12th June 2012. She was a brilliant, creative polymath; a theoretician of fine precision and great intellectual power; a deviser…
If Australia had been founded according to the Eurozone model, our current economic situation would look very different.
adam79
Suppose that in 1901 Australia’s founding fathers had designed the Commonwealth differently. The states were to retain all powers to tax and had to finance themselves (including health, education and social…
With natural gas – like other commodities – it can be necessary for prices to rise in anticipation of increasing demand.
Flickr/jasonwoodhead23
Many are concerned with the price of natural gas. Natural gas is an important part of Australia’s overall energy mix; it represents roughly a quarter of all primary energy sources consumed. And, as we…
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley, Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla and administrator of the UN Development Program, Helen Clark at last week’s UN meeting on wellbeing and happiness.
Casa Presidencial República de Costa Rica
What do the following people have in common? Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, former Australian deputy prime minister Tim Fischer, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, HRH Prince Charles, OECD chief…
In times of financial collapses, banks and governments are painted as the villains. But what about economists?
~ dgies
Since the beginning of the global financial crises in 2007, there have occurred numerous economic and financial crises around the globe, plunging often prosperous nations into hardship and even near bankruptcy…
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…
A life without money isn’t pie in the sky any more.
truthout.org
When New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered police to clear Zuccotti Park of Occupy protestors on 15 November last year he called on the protesters to “occupy the space with the power of their arguments…
Despite President Barack Obama’s charms, Australia must focus on China.
AAP Image/ Scott Barbour
Australia’s recent fleeting love affair with President Barack Obama notwithstanding, Australia’s future lies with China and the North, not the Pacific and the East.
This is not simply a matter of economics…
Some students may benefit from leaving school earlier.
Flickr/University of Denver
We claim that society’s most important investment is in the education of its people. But prescribing a school leaving age of 17 is not only
uncomfortable for some but downright constraining for others…
Nobel Prize in Economics winners Christopher Sims and Thomas Sargent: in the neoclassic mold.
AAP
The Sveriges Riksbank’s Prize in Economic Sciences – or the Nobel prize in economics – awarded last week to Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims– implicitly claims that economics is a science.
But how…
Australia will have to try something new, and align itself more closely to Asia.
AAP Image/Adam Gartrell
AUSTRALIA IN ASIA: In the first of The Conversation’s series on Australia’s relations with Asia, Professor Tony Milner of the Australian National University examines whether we are prepared for the “Asian…
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…
Stock markets around the world plummeted after news of the US credit rating downgrade (EPA/FRANK RUMPENHORST)
Without the firing of a single shot in anger, a country has been, at least in a sense, brought to its economic knees. The capitalist system, with variations and aberrations, is now reacting.
Shares are…
Concerns have been raised over the levels of foreign investment in Australia, including in the mining sector AAP.
The purchase of 43 farms in northern NSW by a state-controlled Chinese mining company has prompted calls this week for tougher restrictions on foreign investment.
Greens leader Bob Brown, independent…
A carbon tax priced at $26 per tonne could raise $11.5 billion in the first year, said economist Ross Garnaut.
AAP
Economist Professor Ross Garnaut has released his final report to the government on climate change and the economy.
The report says global warming is expected to continue and estimates that a $26 per…
