Comments on the previous article by Harry Chemay Wayne McMillan In the previous article, Harry Chemay has faithfully kept to the findings and conclusions from…
Economic Reform Australia (ERA) Feed Items
The return of full employment – part 1
—The return of full employment – part 1 Steven Hail How the unemployed became a tool to discipline workers and keep wages down, and why…
Casino capitalism
—Casino Capitalism Lars Syll According to Keynes, financial crises are a recurring feature of our economy and are linked to its fundamental financial instability: “It…
The popular misunderstanding of money
—The popular misunderstanding of money John D Alt A general observation that’s easy to make is how our habitual misunderstanding of Modern Fiat Money divides…
Recommended paper: Funding of the energy transition by monetary sovereign countries: Energies
—Recommended paper: Funding of the energy transition by monetary sovereign countries: Energies Mark Diesendorf and Steven Hail Abstract of paper: If global energy consumption returns…
Can Citizen Assemblies save democracy?
—Can Citizen Assemblies save democracy? Peter G. Martin Global wealth inequality is accelerating at alarming rates, driving a political ferment that many consider underlies the…
Wealth inequality – housing cost is hollowing out middle Australia
—Wealth inequality housing cost is hollowing out middle Australia Harry Chemay Australians are among the wealthiest people, yet life has never felt harder for many.…
Milei’s “radical plan”, revisited – part 1
—Milei’s “radical plan”, revisited – part 1 Peter Rock-Lacroix In 2023, Javier Milei pitched dollarization as the path toward prosperity for Argentina. Two years on,…
Toward sustainable economies
—Toward sustainable economies Anastasia Pseiridis Creating economies that do not devastate the natural world on which they depend is the economic challenge of the 21st…
Patents and the Abundance Agenda
—Patents and the Abundance Agenda Dean Baker I haven’t read Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s new book Abundance, but everyone I know seems to be…
NAIRU — a harmful fairy tale
—NAIRU — a harmful fairy tale Lars Syll The NAIRU story has always had a very clear policy implication – every attempt to promote full…
It’s the End of the World and I Don’t Feel Fine
—It’s the End of the World and I Don’t Feel Fine Pete Dolack Fredric Jameson is no longer here to remind us that imagining the…
Superannuation is complicated
—Superannuation is complicated A guaranteed government income in retirement would be simpler – Brendan Coates and Joey Moloney Stress prompts many to under-spend superannuation For…
Building humane alternatives to homo economicus
—Building humane alternatives to homo economicus Asad Zaman Introduction: As discussed in my recent article on self-knowledge as the key to understanding society (see ERA…
Universities: dead, buried and cremated?
—Universities: dead, buried and cremated? Geoff Davies In the late nineties, the management of the Australian National University was attacking its academic staff. That may…
In praise of government consumption
—In praise of government consumption Merijn Knibbe DOGE, a new branch of the U.S. government, does not escape the Iron Law of Bureaucracy. It is…
Busting the ‘natural rate of unemployment’ myth
—Busting the ‘natural rate of unemployment’ myth Lars Syll Sixty years ago Milton Friedman wrote an (in)famous article arguing that (1) the natural rate of…
Global EV Sales Have Soared, but Buckle Up for a ‘Weird Moment’ in the U.S. Market
—Global EV Sales Have Soared, but Buckle Up for a ‘Weird Moment’ in the U.S. Market Dan Gearino Electric vehicle sales slowed in the United…
Trade isn’t money for nothing
—Trade isn’t money for nothing Stephanie Kelton On 16 December 2024, the president-elect Donald Trump returned to a familiar grievance: accusing our trading partners of…
Deliberative Democracy
—Deliberative Democracy Peter Martin At a time when many people are losing faith in the ability of our current political system and parties to deliver…
Badly confused trade policy: the story of supply and demand
—Badly confused trade policy: the story of supply and demand Dean Baker Donald Trump is the world’s leading expert in getting things wrong and one…
Australia needs better ways of storing renewable electricity for later
—Australia needs better ways of storing renewable electricity for later. That’s where ‘flow batteries’ can help Maria Skyllas-Kazacos As more and more solar and wind…
2024 Nobel Prize for economics
—2024 Nobel Prize for economics Revealing the bankruptcy of conventional economics Ted Trainer The 2024 Nobel Prize for economics has gone to two economists for…
I Have Learned A Few Things
—I Have Learned A Few Things Caitlin Johnstone I have learned a few things in my time on this earth. Not many, but a few.…
More coal and gas, less renewables
—More coal and gas, less renewables: what a nuclear power plan for Australia would really mean John Quiggin The federal opposition leader’s plan for nuclear…
Can anyone concisely propose a theory of systems change?
—Can anyone concisely propose a theory of systems change? Wayne McMillan This is an answer by Nate Hagens from a Linkedin question asked by a…
To save the planet: Disable this global consumer-corporate machine
—To save the planet: Disable this global consumer-corporate machine Geoff Davies The global consumer-capitalist machine is well-programmed to consume the planet in its quest to…
What is Modern Monetary Theory?
—What is Modern Monetary Theory? William Thomson Every idea, concept or school of thought can be boiled down to its basics. This is useful when…
Mainstream distribution myths
—Mainstream distribution myths Lars Syll Extracted from Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer, by…
Consumption is driving global greenhouse gas emissions
—Consumption is driving global greenhouse gas emissions Mark Diesendorf Patrick Mazza has offered [1] a valuable analysis of China’s contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG)…
Understanding society via self-discovery
—Understanding society via self-discovery Asad Zaman This item is extracted from Asad Zaman’s longer article with the same title [1] If “to know yourself is…
Sustainability scientists challenge the dominant economic system
—Sustainability scientists challenge the dominant economic system Mark Diesendorf It is a rare event whenever scientists directly challenge the theory, political power and cultural embeddedness…
How low can we go?
—How low can we go? To cut the carbon that goes into buildings to net zero, we need radical change Philip Oldfield, Gerard Reinmuth and…
Escaping the jungle
—Escaping the jungle: Rethinking land ownership for a sustainable Future Asad Zaman Introduction: Beyond the Jungle For centuries, capitalism has told us that land is…
How the Taxpayer Myth Gives Life to the Neoliberal Agenda
—How the Taxpayer Myth Gives Life to the Neoliberal Agenda Eric Tymoigne “The taxpayer-driven narrative is not only politically reactionary and mentally stifling, but also…
Coal-free in 14 years as renewables rush in
—Coal-free in 14 years as renewables rush in New blueprint shows how to green the grid – without nuclear Dylan McConnell Coal will no longer…
Sustainability Scientists’ Critique of Neoclassical Economics
—Sustainability Scientists’ Critique of Neoclassical Economics Mark Diesendorf, Geoff Davies, Thomas Wiedmann, Joachim H. Spangenberg, and Steven Hail Citation: Diesendorf M, Davies G, Wiedmann T,…
We can’t have billionaires and stop climate change
—We can’t have billionaires and stop climate change Jason Hickel Over the past few years, the world’s leading Earth system scientists and climatologists have published…
Hyman Minsky, and the financial instability hypothesis
—Hyman Minsky, and the financial instability hypothesis Steven Hail A simple explanation of why our economy goes up, up, up, then down, down, down! Hyman…
Small modular reactors have promise
—Small modular reactors have promise But we found they’re unlikely to help Australia hit net zero by 2050 Ian Lowe and Kylie Walker Australia’s clean…
“Economics”, our master narrative manufacturing our demise
—“Economics”, our master narrative manufacturing our demise Richard Parker If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people on a level…
Chinese electric vehicles are transforming Australia’s car market
—Chinese electric vehicles are transforming Australia’s car market. Are we getting a good deal? Sanjoy Paul and Priyabrata Chowdhury China’s electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers are…
In a free market, drugs are cheap
—In a free market, drugs are cheap Government-granted patent monopolies make them expensive Dean Baker This simple point was left out of a Washington Post…
Universal public services: the power of decommodifying survival
—Universal public services: the power of decommodifying survival Jason Hickel One of the central insights emerging from research on degrowth and climate mitigation is that…
An alternative alternative economics
—An alternative alternative economics How socially engaged Buddhism compares with established heterodox schools Nick Johnson This post compares 4 prominent nonmainstream, or heterodox, schools of…
When it comes to power …
—When it comes to power, solar is about to leave nuclear and everything else in the shade Peter Martin The federal opposition leader might have…
An interconnected economic reality – Part 2
—An interconnected economic reality Part 2 Dynamic change and complexity in economics and modelling Dennis Venter This article is a continuation of part 1, by…
Trying to save money?
—Trying to save money? Our research suggests it is better to pay in cash – while you still can Lachlan Schomburgk, Alex Belli and Arvid…
Global warming and the threat of cheap Chinese electric vehicles
—Global warming and the threat of cheap Chinese electric vehicles Dean Baker Suppose the G-7 finance ministers sat down and worked out a plan to…
Complex economies embedded in the biosphere with the commons restored – part 2
—Complex economies embedded in the biosphere with the commons restored part 2 Geoff Davies This is the continuation of the article with the same name…