Search results for ""Author John Quiggin""

A masterful introduction to the key ideas behind the successes—and failures—of free-market economicsSince 1946, Henry Hazlitt’s bestselling Economics in One Lesson has popularized the belief that economics can be boiled down to one simple lesson: market prices represent the true cost of everything. But one-lesson economics tells only half the story. It can explain why markets often work so well, but it can’t explain why they often fail so badly—or what we should do when they stumble. As Nobel Prize–winning economist Paul Samuelson quipped, “When someone preaches ‘Economics in one lesson,’ I advise: Go back for the second lesson.” In Economics in Two Lessons, John Quiggin teaches both lessons, offering a masterful introduction to the key ideas behind the successes—and failures—of free markets.Economics in Two Lessons explains why market prices often fail to reflect the full cost of our choices to society as a whole. For example, every time we drive a car, fly in a plane, or flick a light switch, we contribute to global warming. But, in the absence of a price on carbon emissions, the costs of our actions are borne by everyone else. In such cases, government action is needed to achieve better outcomes.Two-lesson economics means giving up the dogmatism of laissez-faire as well as the reflexive assumption that any economic problem can be solved by government action, since the right answer often involves a mixture of market forces and government policy. But the payoff is huge: understanding how markets actually work—and what to do when they don’t.Brilliantly accessible, Economics in Two Lessons unlocks the essential issues at the heart of any economic question.

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In the graveyard of economic ideology, dead ideas still stalk the land. The recent financial crisis laid bare many of the assumptions behind market liberalism--the theory that market-based solutions are always best, regardless of the problem. For decades, their advocates dominated mainstream economics, and their influence created a system where an unthinking faith in markets led many to view speculative investments as fundamentally safe. The crisis seemed to have killed off these ideas, but they still live on in the minds of many--members of the public, commentators, politicians, economists, and even those charged with cleaning up the mess. In Zombie Economics, John Quiggin explains how these dead ideas still walk among us--and why we must find a way to kill them once and for all if we are to avoid an even bigger financial crisis in the future. Zombie Economics takes the reader through the origins, consequences, and implosion of a system of ideas whose time has come and gone. These beliefs--that deregulation had conquered the financial cycle, that markets were always the best judge of value, that policies designed to benefit the rich made everyone better off--brought us to the brink of disaster once before, and their persistent hold on many threatens to do so again. Because these ideas will never die unless there is an alternative, Zombie Economics also looks ahead at what could replace market liberalism, arguing that a simple return to traditional Keynesian economics and the politics of the welfare state will not be enough--either to kill dead ideas, or prevent future crises. In a new chapter, Quiggin brings the book up to date with a discussion of the re-emergence of pre-Keynesian ideas about austerity and balanced budgets as a response to recession.

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Western Welfare Capitalisms in Good Times and Bad provides an insightful appraisal of policy priorities and outcomes in four Western regimes: the Anglo-American liberal regimes, Southern European ‘proto-corporatist’ regimes, the historically social democratic Scandinavian regimes, and Western European conservative-corporatist regimes. Challenging the assertion that Western regimes are converging towards a ‘lean and mean’ Anglo-American type of welfare regime, the authors demonstrate how policy priorities and outcomes in these four regimes remain distinctive. Chapters offer detailed analyses of a comprehensive set of policy outcomes including poverty, income and wealth inequality, gender inequality, personal autonomy, economic growth, economic security, and life satisfaction. The book ultimately finds that the historically social democratic Scandinavian regimes perform as well or better than other regimes in all policy domains, whilst continuing to prioritise their own egalitarian policy aims. This fascinating book will be essential reading for scholars of political science, sociology and economics, as well as policy makers seeking to fully understand the complex dimensions of Western capitalism. It will also be valuable to those interested in comparing the differing responses of Western governments to two major crises of the 21st century: the Global Financial Crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.

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In 2012, Australia took the major step of introducing a carbon price, involving the creation of a system of emissions permits initially issued at a fixed price. Carbon Pricing brings together experts instrumental in the development, and operation, of Australia's carbon policy who have played a significant role in the broader debate over climate change policy. Together they have achieved an in-depth analysis of Australia s policy stance on pricing carbon and its implications for the wider economy.While the future of carbon pricing is itself unclear in Australia, the experiences, insights and conclusions outlined herein will prove invaluable to a global audience. The assessment of the initial operation of the carbon price provides a wide range of insights into the problems of mitigating climate change, and the prospects for the future. The critical analysis will provide a valuable resource to inform wider international debates concerning alternative mechanisms for internalizing the carbon externality, tax reform, climate skepticism and carbon farming initiatives.With its interdisciplinary approach, Carbon Pricing, will appeal to scholars and researchers of economics in general and climate change, natural resources and energy policy in particular. Those organizations and policymakers involved in similar experiments and processes in other countries will find the experiences and analysis invaluable.Contributors include: D. Adamson, M. Battaglia, W.P. Bell, D. Besley, J. Cook, C. Downie, J. Foster, J. Freebairn, R. Garnaut, S. Grant, M. Harris, S. Kennedy, M. Keogh, T. Mallawaarachchi, R. Nelson, D. Quiggin, J. Quiggin, P. Wild, S. Writer

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Agriculture in the Murray-Darling Basin of Australia represents a controversial 'policy experiment' comprising large capital investments, innovation and enterprise across a hundred-year period. This book, which contains contributions from some of Australia's foremost economic, social science and public policy researchers and writers, examines the evolution of public policy frameworks that transformed water management from initial exploitation for irrigation as a dominant single use to a dynamic multiple use resource system. Water Policy Reform provides both analytical insights and examples of successes and failures in developing water policy in a complex and politically-contested environment. As such, this work attempts to develop a comprehensive management plan for the Basin and provides novel and invaluable lessons for an increasingly global problem. This well-researched study will interest both economists and those with public policy interest in academia and the public sector, including development agencies concerned with sustainable water resource management. Contributors: D. Adamson, O. Banerjee, J. Bennett, S. Chambers, J. Connor, L. Crase, T. Cummins, S. Driml, T. Goesch, P. Gooday, D. Hatton MacDonald, T. Mallawaarachchi, A. McClintock, M. Morrison, N. Nguyen, D. Pannell, J. Quiggin, H. Ross, A. Ryan, P. Schrobback, S. Tapsuwan, A. Watson, M. Young, Z. Zarezadeh

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