Photo Hornsdale (South Australia) windfarm in construction 2016. David Clark. flickr cc. 4 June 2020 The history of war tells us that such events are usually launched on doubtful and fabricated pretexts: The US war in Iraq, the German invasion in Europe at the start of WWII, all the way back to Julius Caesar’s invasion […]
Photo Public Housing Rubik’s cube minimalism. Mathew Perkins 2016, flickr cc. 4 June 2020. Greatly concerned about the social and economic consequences of the pandemic, significant voices are urging us to reshape public policies, and reset our compass towards a fair and sustainable economy. The Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe, in a speech on 21 […]
Geoff Hanmer University of Adelaide Australia has done better with COVID-19 than anyone dared hope. This opens up the prospect of progressive relaxation of restrictions later this year. Organisations which could participate in an economic stimulus program will need to be in a position then to deliver “shovel-ready” projects to help revive the economy. The […]
7 May 2020. Pope Francis’s response to the Amazon Synod carries a message for Australia concerning our Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander peoples, since Francis sees Indigenous people as very important in teaching us how to love and care for our common home. I dream of an Amazon region that fights for the rights of […]
7 May 2020 The coronavirus pandemic came swiftly and without warning to turn our lives completely upside-down! It didn’t discriminate between those it infected, and has proven that noone is immune to it. The routine of our lives is very different now from previously. However, one group of people is experiencing this pandemic particularly acutely […]
7 May 2020 On top of countless human tragedies, there will be many long-lasting social and economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Perhaps none will be more profound, though, than the death of free-market fundamentalism and the return of the State. Why now? After all, there have long been moral, social, and environmental risks posed […]
7 May 2020 By now, we’re all familiar with the rationale that we’re undergoing these Covid-19 limits to our personal freedoms and employment in order to ‘flatten the curve’, thereby saving lives and avoiding overwhelming our health system. Present indications suggest that we have succeeded in avoiding the worst outcomes, and talk is now turning […]
7 April 2020. This article considers economic strategy post-Covid-19. In Part 1, it is argued that the principal requirement will be to raise the rate of increase in aggregate demand, and that Morrison’s proposed business-friendly policy settings will not help. Part 2 considers how best to increase aggregate demand, and what that implies for the […]
7 May 2020. For weeks now, Covid-19 has dominated the world’s media. We’ve had endless facts, advice, and commentary on the virus itself, the number of deaths and infections, the level of testing, the dos and don’ts of hygiene and social distancing, the flattening of the curve, and much else. But, on the underlying significance […]
7 May 2020. Here, I address (i) how best to support aggregate demand, and (ii) how quickly to restore budget balance. In Part 1 of this article, I concluded that these are the two key issues for future economic policy. As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic policy is now starting to consider future economic […]
Natasha Chassagne University of Tasmania Every aspect of our lives has been affected by the coronavirus. The global economy has slowed, people have retreated to their homes and thousands have died or become seriously ill. At this frightening stage of the crisis, it’s difficult to focus on anything else. But as the International Agency has […]
