Beginning of an era: a victorious Bob Hawke at the National Tally Room on March 5, 1983. His prime ministership was an exciting time for an economics student.
National Archives of Australia/AAP
An economist explains why the US and Chinese governments are most likely to dig in their heels rather than find a compromise to end the costly trade conflict.
The problem of unsafe drinking water afflicts poor communities most.
Reuters/Carlos Barria
Just as America’s highways, sewage systems and water pipes need fixing, so does the growing gap between rich and poor. Trump and the Democrats could use that money to address both.
We care about more than economics when it comes to the polling booth. So why don’t governments listen?
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Mike Salvaris, The University of Melbourne; Fiona Stanley, The University of Western Australia, and Kate Lycett, Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Countries around the world are taking society’s happiness and well-being into account when formulating policy. So, why is Australia so focused on economics as the sole marker of progress?
Facebook allows advertisers to target low-income Americans.
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President Trump has been attacking the Federal Reserve for months and appears intent on nominating political allies to its board. An economist explain what typically happens next.
The Adani coal mine has become a key issue for voters.
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West Australian voters need convincing that the Coalition will be better than Labor at managing the economy. Meanwhile, the Queensland seat of Dickson has already descended into personality politics.
In economics classes, relentless growth is an unquestioned dogma. Yet this same economic growth is rapidly ripping apart the ecological foundations of our world.
Who needs a worker checking shelves when you have a robot?
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Stephen J. Silvia, American University School of International Service
A quarter-century ago, more than 100 nations agreed to engage in freer trade with one another and signed the declaration that established the World Trade Organization.
Several 2020 presidential candidates have called for reparations for slavery in the U.S.
AP Photo/Douglas Healey
Reparations has emerged as a hot topic among Democratic candidates hoping to replace Trump in 2020. But until now, the issue has only rarely received national attention.
Humankind already has the knowledge to make sustainable and socially just ways of living on this planet possible. But new types of design and economics are needed for anything to change.
Trump isn’t the first to think a country can be full.
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Democrats such as Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Markey are proposing an ambitious decarbonization plan that critics are calling unaffordable. A green economist explains how the US could pay for it.
U.S. roads are in bad shape.
Reuters/Mario Anzuoni
At the moment, fuel taxes pay for most of the maintenance of US roads, bridges and highways. What happens when the majority of cars no longer run on gasoline?
If we want economics to appeal to young Australians, it needs to move away from theory and towards tackling some of the trickiest issues faced by the next generation.
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Jim Stanford, University of Sydney and Richard Denniss, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
For economics to play a more helpful, critical role, it must abandon blind faith in the free market and embrace the social, historical, and environmental context in which economics actually happens.