Itās the End of the World and I Donāt Feel Fine Pete Dolack Fredric Jameson is no longer here to remind us that imagining the…
Economic Reform Australia (ERA) Feed Items
Universities: dead, buried and cremated?
āUniversities: 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
āIn 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…
Global EV Sales Have Soared, but Buckle Up for a āWeird Momentā in the U.S. Market
āGlobal EV Sales Have Soared, but Buckle Up for a āWeird Momentā in the U.S. Market Dan Gearino Electric vehicle sales slowed in the United…
Trade isnāt money for nothing
āTrade 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…
Badly confused trade policy: the story of supply and demand
āBadly confused trade policy: the story of supply and demand Dean Baker Donald Trump is the worldās leading expert in getting things wrong and one…
Superannuation is complicated
āSuperannuation 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
āBuilding 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…
Busting the ānatural rate of unemploymentā myth
āBusting the ānatural rate of unemploymentā myth Lars Syll Sixty years ago Milton Friedman wrote an (in)famous article arguing that (1) the natural rate of…
Deliberative Democracy
āDeliberative Democracy Peter Martin At a time when many people are losing faith in the ability of our current political system and parties to deliver…
Australia needs better ways of storing renewable electricity for later
āAustralia needs better ways of storing renewable electricity for later. Thatās where āflow batteriesā can help Maria Skyllas-Kazacos As more and more solar and wind…
2024 Nobel Prize for economics
ā2024 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
āI 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
āMore coal and gas, less renewables: what a nuclear power plan for Australia would really mean John Quiggin The federal opposition leaderās plan for nuclear…
Can anyone concisely propose a theory of systems change?
āCan 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
āTo 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?
āWhat 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
āMainstream 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
āConsumption is driving global greenhouse gas emissions Mark Diesendorf Patrick Mazza has offered [1] a valuable analysis of Chinaās contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG)…
Understanding society via self-discovery
āUnderstanding society via self-discovery Asad Zaman This item is extracted from Asad Zamanās longer article with the same title [1] If āto know yourself is…
Sustainability scientists challenge the dominant economic system
āSustainability 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?
āHow 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
āEscaping 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
āHow the Taxpayer Myth Gives Life to the Neoliberal Agenda Eric Tymoigne āThe taxpayer-driven narrative is not only politically reactionary and mentally stifling, but also…
Coal-free in 14 years as renewables rush in
āCoal-free in 14 years as renewables rush in New blueprint shows how to green the grid ā without nuclear Dylan McConnell Coal will no longer…
Sustainability Scientistsā Critique of Neoclassical Economics
āSustainability Scientistsā Critique of Neoclassical Economics Mark Diesendorf, Geoff Davies, Thomas Wiedmann, Joachim H. Spangenberg, and Steven Hail Citation: Diesendorf M, Davies G, Wiedmann T,…
We canāt have billionaires and stop climate change
āWe canāt have billionaires and stop climate change Jason Hickel Over the past few years, the worldās leading Earth system scientists and climatologists have published…
Hyman Minsky, and the financial instability hypothesis
āHyman Minsky, and the financial instability hypothesis Steven Hail A simple explanation of why our economy goes up, up, up, then down, down, down! Hyman…
Chinese electric vehicles are transforming Australiaās car market
āChinese electric vehicles are transforming Australiaās car market. Are we getting a good deal? Sanjoy Paul and Priyabrata Chowdhury Chinaās electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers are…
Small modular reactors have promise
āSmall modular reactors have promise But we found theyāre unlikely to help Australia hit net zero by 2050 Ian Lowe and Kylie Walker Australiaās clean…
āEconomicsā, our master narrative manufacturing our demise
āāEconomicsā, our master narrative manufacturing our demise Richard Parker If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people on a level…
In a free market, drugs are cheap
āIn 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
āUniversal 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
āAn 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 ā¦
āWhen 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 ā Part 2
āAn 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?
āTrying to save money? Our research suggests it is better to pay in cash ā while you still can Lachlan Schomburgk, Alex Belli and Arvid…
Global warming and the threat of cheap Chinese electric vehicles
āGlobal 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 ā part 2
āComplex economies embedded in the biosphere with the commons restored part 2 Geoff Davies This is the continuation of the article with the same name…
Where did money come from?
āWhere did money come from? Steven Hail For the most part, economists continue to believe a story of money told to generations of students by…
An interconnected economic reality Part 1:
āAn interconnected economic reality Part 1: Rethinking the economics curriculum Dennis Venter This is the first part of an article by Dennis Venter describing an…
Advantages and applications of sodium-ion batteries
āAdvantages and applications of sodium-ion batteries Editor The following item has been extracted from a Wikipedia entry entitled Sodium-ion battery. The Na-ion batteries possess some…
Capitalism ā with friends like these, you donāt need enemies ā part 2
āCapitalism with friends like these, you donāt need enemies part 2 Steve Keen This is the second part of a chapter from Prof Steve Keenās…
The future is not evenly distributed
āThe future is not evenly distributed Greg Reid It has been assumed by most western economists that as China develops, its rate of growth will…
Labour productivity and real wages: an update
āLabour productivity and real wages: an update Wayne McMillan Australian workers have experienced a considerable decline in real wages and overall productivity, due to a…
Wind, solar and pumped hydro are all we need, and cheaper
āWind, solar and pumped hydro are all we need, and cheaper Geoff Davies Wind, solar and pumped hydro energy storage can provide all the electrical…
āNew Keynesianā unemployment ā a paid vacation essentially!
āāNew Keynesianā unemployment ā a paid vacation essentially! Lars P. Syll Both Real Business Cycle and New Keynesian models see unemployment as an accidental and…
Capitalism ā with friends like these, you donāt need enemies (part 1)
āCapitalism with friends like these, you donāt need enemies (part 1) Steve Keen This is a chapter from Prof Steve Keenās book Rebuilding Economics from…
Rethinking economics with Angus Deaton
āRethinking economics with Angus Deaton Editor Mainstream economics has placed efficiency before ethics and human wellbeing It is no secret that mainstream economics is grounded…
Complex economies embedded in the biosphere
āComplex economies embedded in the biosphere with the commons restored – Part 1 Geoff Davies How can we construct an economics consistent with the biophysical…