John Quiggin

Five planets visible in the sky at the moment. Mercury in the West just after sunset, Jupiter and Saturn near the moon, Venus and Mars in the morning. Earth is the one we really need. Share this:Like this:Like Loading...

Back again with another Monday Message Board. Post comments on any topic. Civil discussion and no coarse language please. Side discussions and idees fixes to the sandpits, please. If you would like to receive my (hopefully) regular email news, please sign up using the following link http://eepurl.com/dAv6sX You can also follow me on Twitter @JohnQuiggin, at my Facebook public page   and at my Economics in Two Lessons page Like this:Like Loading...

Despite yet another round of policy announcements from the Morrison government, energy policy in Australia is still stuck in the morass created by a combination of climate denialism and the failed reforms of the 1990s, of which privatisation was a critical element. I’ve argued for some time that the grid should be renationalised, and the case is even more urgent now. The case for renationalisation has been massively strengthened by the fact that real interest rates on government...

Queensland University economics professor, John Quiggin, "Zoomed" into the Saturday, September 26, gathering Beneath the Wisteria. Professor Quiggin talked about a range of contemporary issues from an economic perspective, but with the bias toward how they either worsen or improve what is happening with the climate crisis

Queensland University economics professor, John Quiggin, "Zoomed" into the Saturday, September 26, gathering Beneath the Wisteria. Professor Quiggin talked about a range of contemporary issues from an economic perspective, but with the bias toward how they either worsen or improve what is happening with the climate crisis

A new sandpit for long side discussions, conspiracy theories, idees fixes and so on. To be clear, the sandpit is for regular commenters to pursue points that distract from regular discussion, including conspiracy-theoretic takes on the issues at hand. It’s not meant as a forum for visiting conspiracy theorists, or trolls posing as such. Like this:Like Loading...

Back again with another Monday Message Board. Post comments on any topic. Civil discussion and no coarse language please. Side discussions and idees fixes to the sandpits, please. If you would like to receive my (hopefully) regular email news, please sign up using the following link http://eepurl.com/dAv6sX You can also follow me on Twitter @JohnQuiggin, at my Facebook public page   and at my Economics in Two Lessons page Like this:Like Loading...

One of the big questions about the shift to working remotely has been “what about new staff?”. To spell this out, the idea is that, while experienced workers can do everything they need to online, new employees will need personal contact to pick up tacit knowledge and firm culture. It’s inherent in the argument that these terms are difficult to define with any precision – if not, they could be formalised and taught. This is part of a debate that’s been going on for a couple of...

That’s the headline for my latest article in Independent Australia. Opening paras WITH THE economy in recession as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and depressed conditions likely to continue for a year or more to come, attention has turned to strategies to promote recovery.Unsurprisingly, most participants in the policy process have turned to the kinds of strategies they have always favoured.High on the list for many is increased investment in physical infrastructure projects and...

One of the central features of the debate about working from home is that it leads to the loss of random, but productive, encounters with colleagues. I’ve responded with the observation that some of my best research ideas have come from largely unplanned encounters on the Internet. It’s just struck me that there is a conflict here between the interests of workers and those of firms and managers. A lot of universities (or, more precisely university managers), think of themselves...