Treasury workshopped dealing with recession in 2003-04

The Treasury has released papers, under a Freedom of Information request, documenting how it's Executive Board considered dealing with a possible recession in 2003-04. The issues raised in the papers figured large in Treasury's advice to the Rudd Government in 2008, when considering a response to the global financial crisis.

Lacking political leadership: Comparing the treatment of boat people in 1977 and today

An excellent article by Klaus Neumann, Professor of History at the Swinburne Institute for Social Research, in “Queue jumpers” and the perils of crossing Sydney Harbour on a Manly ferry provides the historical context for the current morass that is Australia's refugee policy.

Neumann provides a survey of the Vietnamese boat people "crisis" that occurred in 1977 and draws parallels with the politics of boat people during the last decade or so.

Former PS Head: Five problems with the state of the public service

Two recent articles in The Mandarin on problems with the APS—one from a former APS Head and the other a former Minister.

IMF: Inclusive capitalism and financial integrity

Christine Lagarde (Managing Director, IMF) gave an insightful speech in May on the topic of economic inclusion and financial integrity. One of the interesting themes highlighted was that inequality is not a trade-off for better economic performance - indeed, IMF research indicates that the right redistributive policies actually lead to better performing economies. Furthermore, Lagarde focusses on the need to ingrain a greater social consciousness in the financial sector, so as to re-engender trust in the system.

IMF: Redistribution, Inequality and Growth

In a staff paper published in February, the IMF examines the links between rising inequality and the fragility of economic growth. They note that conventional wisdom would suggest that redistribution would in itself be bad for growth but, conceivably, by engendering greater equality, might help growth.

OECD predicts: No Malthusian food security crisis anytime soon

Good news it seems! The OECD doesn’t expect a Malthusian food crisis to materialise any time soon. 

Agriculture Minister foreshadows a return to sensible agriculture policy rhetoric?

Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce MP, has demonstrated a sense of proportion in respect of Australia's place in the global food market, in contrast to many politicians and industry leaders or lobbyists. Speaking at the Farm Writer's Association of NSW on 25 July and again today on Sky News, the Agriculture Minister stated that “We’re not going to be the food basket of Asia. We’ve got to dispense with that rhetoric. It’s ridiculous."