Category: Journal articles

The Curtin–Chifley Origins of the Australian Bank Deposit Guarantee

Published in Agenda (2015) vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 21-43

Abstract: In 2008, the Australian government introduced a guarantee of bank deposits. However, in 1945 the Curtin–Chifley government had already introduced what it believed was an explicit bank deposit guarantee. Using archival material, this paper shows how it was understood to be a guarantee by the cabinet, Labor parliamentarians, and the Commonwealth Bank. The guarantee was an important yet almost entirely forgotten part of the Curtin–Chifley government’s social reform program. This paper uncovers the origins of the perception of a deposit guarantee in this forgotten 1945 debate, the attempts by policymakers and the Commonwealth Bank to roll back those perceptions in subsequent decades, and the Rudd government’s reversion to an explicit guarantee scheme in 2008.

Available at Agenda

Classical Liberalism in Australian Economics

Published in Econ Journal Watch (2015) vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 192-220.

Abstract: Classical liberalism, the tradition of free markets and individual liberty, has an outsider status in the Australian economics profession. This paper surveys the origin of Australian classical liberal economics in the nineteenth century, its sharp decline in the first half of the twentieth century, and its revival and growth in recent decades. Despite a period of successful market-oriented economic reform in the 1980s and 1990s, surveys suggest that classical liberalism is a minority viewpoint among Australian economists. The classical liberal tradition is sustained only by a small number of institutions and individuals. To the extent that it is influential, it is influential thanks to a political culture that prioritises public engagement. Classical liberal economists have a high degree of participation in political and economic debate outside the academy.

Available at Econ Journal Watch.

Cyberbullying and public policy: an evolutionary perspective

Published in UniSA Student Law Review (2015) vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 62-67.

Abstract: This article is a comment on Peta Spyrou’s article in this volume entitled ‘Civil Liability for Negligence: An Analysis of Cyberbullying Policies in South Australian Schools’. It considers three aspects of the problem: the first focuses on the implications of the fact that  cyberbullying is not a new form of social activity but is rather a new form of bullying; the second explores some of the possible policy and social responses to the problem; and the third draws from the insights of evolutionary economics and underlines the importance of respecting the rights of children both to be protected from bullying as well as to develop their identities.

Available at UniSA Student Law Review