Category Archives: Economic theory

RN Breakfast interview on stamp duties and land taxes

Posted on June 9, 2021 by Warwick Smith

States try tax reform to fix housing affordability On RN Breakfast with Fran Kelly I was interviewed by Max Chalmers for this segment on RN Breakfast about the transfer from stamp duties to land tax that is happening in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic theory, housing affordability, Land tax, radio | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Stay in the doughnut, not the hole: how to get out of the crisis with both our economy and environment intact

Posted on January 1, 2021 by Warwick Smith

pxfuel, CC BY Warwick Smith, University of Melbourne Before the recession we were on a collision course with environmental disaster. The recovery provides a rare opportunity to do things differently; to rebuild a better economy that can support living standards … Continue reading →

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To Fight The IMF’s Dire Prediction We Need More Government Debt – 10 daily

Posted on June 4, 2020 by Warwick Smith

By Warwick Smith This article was first published on April 15 2020 at 10daily, which has since shut down. I’m reproducing it here now partly to keep a record in case the web site ceases to exist. Update: the 10daily … Continue reading →

Posted in Australian politics, Economic theory, Op-ed | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A failure of collective intelligence

Posted on July 29, 2019 by Warwick Smith

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 →

Posted in Economic theory, philosophy of economics, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted on May 11, 2019 by Warwick Smith

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 by Warwick Smith

  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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Governments haven’t always shirked responsibility for our low wages – The Conversation

Posted on December 12, 2017 by Warwick Smith

Post-war Australia experienced a boom with full employment and falling inequality. State Library of Queensland Warwick Smith, University of Melbourne For the last four years or so average wages in Australia have barely kept pace with inflation, meaning no real … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic theory, Inequality | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The budget is the greatest moral challenge of our time? Bollocks

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Warwick Smith

  By Warwick Smith All the assertions in Malcolm Turnbull’s statement about the budget being a fundamental moral challenge are flawed. Let’s look at them one at a time This article was originally published in The Guardian. The prime minister, Malcolm … Continue reading →

Posted in Australian politics, Economic theory | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

2ser radio Sydney interview on the government’s PaTH internship program

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Warwick Smith

I was on 2ser’s Sunday night program The Mix this week talking about the budget and, in particular, the government’s new Prepare-Trial-Hire (PaTH) program for youth unemployment. You can listen to the program on the link below. My contribution starts … Continue reading →

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