Since the 1980s, economic policy in Australia has been dominated by a policy agenda referred to by its proponents as “microeconomic reform” or simply “reform”, based on the ideas of free trade, privatisation and reductions in the scale and scope of government activity. This agenda has exhausted its political support and run out of ideas. It offers no answers to the policy challenges of the 21st century, including growing inequality, financial fragility and the demands of the information economy. This presentation will address the question: What comes next?
John Quiggin is a John Quiggin is an Australian economist, a Professor and an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow at the University of Queensland, and a member of the Board of the Climate Change Authority of the Australian Government. He is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. He has produced over 1500 publications in fields including decision theory, environmental economics, production economics, and the theory of economic growth. He has also written on policy topics including climate change, micro-economic reform, privatisation, and employment policy. His latest book, Zombie Economics: How Dead Ideas Still Walk Among Us has been translated into eight languages.