Author Archives: Warwick Smith

Interviewed for ABC Podcast ‘The Signal’. How the dole bludger was born.

Posted on November 1, 2019

I was interviewed about the history of unemployment in Australia and, more specifically, the history of how Australia has treated unemployed workers. We haven’t always been so punitive. For about 25 years after WW2 unemployment was seen as a collective … Continue reading →

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History of unemployment in Australia: Uncommon Sense 3RRR

Posted on September 22, 2019

I was interviewed by Amy Mullins for her terrific show Uncommon Sense. This show is rare in that it spends substantial time on subjects, really getting into some of the nuance and complexity behind the headlines and slogans. We spoke … Continue reading →

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How our economy is like an out of control AI

Posted on September 13, 2019

By Warwick Smith | 8 September 2019, 12:30pm First published at Independent Australia Humans, individually, can be incredibly brilliant but collectively we’re often puzzlingly stupid. To take a simple, uncontroversial example, we know that forests are critical for our survival. … Continue reading →

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A failure of collective intelligence

Posted on July 29, 2019

By Warwick Smith An essay I wrote has won second prize in New Philosopher magazine’s latest writer’s prize and has been published in the magazine. As I did with my last New Philosopher essay, I’ll probably publish this in another … Continue reading →

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Mineral wealth, Clive Palmer, and the corruption of Australian politics – The Conversation

Posted on May 17, 2019

Warwick Smith, University of Melbourne Clive Palmer is reportedly spending A$70 million of his own money on his party’s campaign. How is it possible for one individual to command so much wealth and where did it come from? The sad … Continue reading →

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Labor wants to pay childcare wages itself. A perfect storm makes it not such a bad idea

Posted on May 11, 2019

This article was first published in The Conversation. Warwick Smith, University of Melbourne This article is part of an election series on wages, industrial relations, Labor and the union movement ahead of the 2019 federal election. You can read other … Continue reading →

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Memories. In 1961 Labor promised to boost the deficit to fight unemployment. The promise won

Posted on April 19, 2019

  First published in The Conversation Arthur Caldwell almost defeated Robert Menzies in the poll in 1961, and won the debate about policy. National Archives, National Library of Australia, Wikimedia Warwick Smith, University of Melbourne Lately, governments and oppositions have … Continue reading →

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