Category Archives: Inequality

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

  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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Video of speech for the Victorian Fabians

Here’s a speech I gave on the economics of inequality at the AGM of the Victorian Fabians. The speech notes are below the video. Warwick Smith from Australian Fabians Inc. (AFI) on Vimeo. Speech notes from Per Capita’s Medium page. … Continue reading

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

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

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RRR Uncommon Sense interview on full employment

I was interviewed by Amy Mullins on Uncommon Sense following the publication of my report on the history of unemployment in Australia. The interview is about 40 minutes long which allowed us to really delve into the topic of unemployment. … Continue reading

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History suggests Australia could be left behind by the next industrial revolution

Warwick Smith, and Mitchell Eddy, University of Melbourne Originally published in The Conversation. This article was co-authored by Mitchell Eddy who has recently completed a Masters of International Relations at the University of Melbourne that included a placement at the … Continue reading

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Trump: from crisis comes opportunity

17 November 2016 By Warwick Smith Originally published at Per Capita Australia The forward march of the neoliberal consensus had for decades appeared to be unstoppable. Somehow the wealthy elite managed to hoodwink us into believing that competition was the … Continue reading

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Too old to work, too young to die – The Monthly

Pension changes, age discrimination and workplace automation are driving older Australians into poverty BY WARWICK SMITH First published in The Monthly Friday, 30th September 2016 The first of October is the International Day of Older Persons. The United Nations want … Continue reading

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Cynical workforce participation policy forces solo parents into ranks of unemployed – The Age

By Warwick Smith First published at The Age The Turnbull government is peddling workforce participation nonsense. Some things have changed under the leadership of Malcolm Turnbull. Many things haven’t. When it comes to employment, the government continues to “push on … Continue reading

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Malcolm Turnbull and the distraction of economic growth – Independent Australia

If we stop obsessing about economic growth and focus directly on our social aims then economic growth will take care of itself, writes economist Warwick Smith. First published at Independent Australia WHY ARE WE so consumed by the pursuit of economic … Continue reading

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Joe Hockey’s unscripted moments of truth reveal what the Government really thinks – The Age

By Warwick Smith Originally published by The Age on September 3, 2015 – 12:17PM. Talk of throwing Hockey to the wolves is worrying. After all, it’s his slip-of-the-truth lines that give us a glimpse of the Government’s real agenda: only the rich … Continue reading

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