With much-needed wit and humour, Nick diagnoses the otherwise very troubling illness that currently plagues public discourse – reductivist economic arguments.
Uber is practically a staple of modern transport, but its meteoric rise has come at a cost.
Can simple economic frameworks be applied to the free speech debate? Matthew Rao believes so.
In recent years, the interrelationship between ‘free markets’ and morality has become increasingly apparent. Stories of corporate corruption, unethical animal testing and the exploitation of workers in third world countries arise frequently in the media.
This article was featured in the 2013 edition of Equilibrium, our annual print publication.
‘The salient failure of the current financial crisis is that it was not caused by some external shock … the crisis was generated by the system itself.’—George Soros
UNSW researcher Gigi Foster brings to life the seminal ideas of Adam Smith, father of free market economics, in a series of blogs.
Friedrich von Hayek (1899 – 1992) was a Nobel-prize winning economist and one of the most influential thinkers in politics and economics of the 20th century. He is famous for his work on what is commonly referred to as supply side or Austrian Economics: an alternative to ‘mainstream’ Keynesian business cycle theory.
Now that Kevin Rudd has regained his position at the helm of the Australian Labor Party, the soap opera that is Australian politics has almost immediately turned itself to the future of the relatively stable Liberal Party. Specifically, rumours are now flying about the unsung ambitions of shadow communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull to topple Tony Abbott before the election, and ride on a wave of popular admiration to the Prime Ministership. At least, that’s what the media seems to think.
Questions now arise however – who is this man, and what does he want? And, possibly more importantly, what impact would his return to the leadership of the Liberal Party (if it ever occurred) have on its policies, prospects and the public?
Paul Krugman wrote a famous paper in the 1990s outlining the myths surrounding the Asian miracle of the 20th century. Rather than it being a ‘miracle’, he presented a less dazzling critique of Asia’s economic success. He proposed that it was a combination of stringent government policy and the further adoption of free trade that was key to sustaining economic growth in East Asia. Most of this growth occurred in eight economies, collectively referred to as the High Performing Asian Economies (HPAEs) – Japan, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and the newly industrializing Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand [1]. The relationship between public policy and economic growth is now more important than ever, and in light of the continuing economic crisis in Europe, there are a number of lessons to be learnt from the success of the HPAEs.
By Brendan Law, ESSA Vice-President 2012
The essence behind Free-Market ‘capitalism’ is the idea that the provision of incentives, say, a profit-motive, or some significant tangible benefit, create a response within a particular market that allows it to organise itself, and for goods to be produced in the most efficient way, in the desired quantities and prices.