Economics Explored

Dr Brendan Markey-Towler is a Senior Consultant at Behaviour Innovation, a Brisbane-based consultancy firm specialising in behavioural change which has undertaken a range of interesting projects include Project Cane Changer. Prior to joining Behavioural Innovation, Brendan researched and taught economics at the University of Queensland and University College London. He is the author of An Architecture of the Mind: A Psychological Foundation for the Science of Everyday Life, published by Routledge in 2018.Questions posed by Gene to Brendan included:How have economists traditionally thought about how people behave and make decisions? Why was it problematic?How has behavioural economics modified the way economists think?What does our new understanding of behavioural economics mean for policy (e.g. nudges, importance of overcoming biases, etc.)?What don't we know still that we really need to know?Books mentioned during the discussion included:Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass SunsteinThinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel KahnemanThe interview was recorded on 30 October 2019 at the Precinct innovation hub in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. 

In this episode, Economics Explained host Gene Tunny discusses innovation and digital public goods with his colleague Dr Nicholas Gruen, CEO of Lateral Economics. Nicholas is a well-known Australian economist, entrepreneur, and angel investor. Australia’s former Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner once described Nicholas as “Australia’s foremost public intellectual.”Many listeners will know of Nicholas’s work, through his published articles, reports and blog posts at Club Troppo and the Mandarin. He’s frequently quoted in national and international media, including the Financial Times. It’s challenging to summarise Nicholas’s wide-ranging career. He’s worked as a ministerial adviser and as a member of the Productivity Commission, and he has chaired several boards, including those of the Australian Centre for Social Innovation, Innovation Australia, and, in its early days, the data science start up Kaggle, which was later acquired by Google. Nicholas certainly has the track record to be a credible authority on innovation.Gene's wide ranging conversation with Nicholas includes discussion of:innovationknowledge as a public gooddigital public goodsgovernment as impresarioNicholas's upcoming book on the public goods of the 21st centuryclimate change policycitizens' juriesIf you're interested in Nicholas's Government as Impresario report mentioned in the podcast, you can find it on the Nesta website:Government as Impresario

Many people struggle with managing money. For example, last month, Australian ABC News reported “1.9 million Australians are struggling with credit card debts” and that the average Australian credit card debt is more than $3,000.To discuss personal finance, Economics Explained host Gene Tunny invited Griffith University lecturer Dr Di Johnson onto the program.  Issues for discussion included:Credit cards – friend or foe?Is it ok to borrow money to buy a car?Is rent money dead money? Alternatively, should you do everything you can to get into the property market as soon as you can?How do you encourage good financial habits in young people?Di’s research interests include personal and household finance, behavioural economics and financial planning. She is a member of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s Financial Capability Research Network. In addition to teaching and researching, Di is a regular commentator on financial issues on ABC radio and TV here in Brisbane.  During the conversation, Di noted that, in Australia, free financial counselling is available for people in financial trouble:Financial Counselling page on ASIC Moneysmart websiteNote this podcast episode contains information of a general nature only and does not constitute financial advice, which always needs to consider people's individual circumstances. 

Economics Explained host Gene Tunny discusses the economics of the film industry with his good friend Tim Hughes, who spent ten years working in the film industry in the UK and Australia. Tim worked as a crew member on TV shows such as Peak Practice, The Bill, and Coronation Street, and on film productions including Tomb Raider, Scooby-Doo, and Swimming Upstream.Currently, Tim’s a Brisbane-based businessman who’s had a range of ventures over the years. His latest business is Urban Ergo, a distributor of Humanscale ergonomic products which improve health and comfort at work. Despite his change of career, which he talks about in the interview, Tim has never lost his passion for the film industry.As noted in the conversation, host Gene Tunny is a long-time critic of government subsidies for the film industry. For instance, see his Policy magazine article:Special rates for special mates: The case against film industry subsidiesRegarding the issue of local Australian content on streaming services such as Netflix, an issue Tim and Gene discuss in the episode, the latest news is:Change is coming: Netflix, Amazon, Apple get the jump on regulation

The gig economy benefits consumers through lower prices and greater choice. Check out how many local restaurants are participating in Uber Eats for example. And obviously the gig economy benefits the platform businesses which have multi-billion-dollar valuations. But does the gig economy benefit the workers, the people working gig-by-gig? This question and others were considered in a conversation I had on 12 October with my good friend Darren Brady Nelson, a professional economist who has worked for many years as a freelancer and contractor. Darren’s professional career began in the NSW Treasury in the 1990s. In addition to his economic consulting work, Darren has contributed regularly to a variety of publications, including the Cayman Financial Review. He has also served as an adviser to politicians. For instance, in 2017, Darren was economic adviser to Queensland Senator Malcolm Roberts. Darren joined us via Skype from co-working space Work Lofts in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which has a range of features designed to make freelancers and entrepreneurs comfortable, including beer and sparkling water on tap and coffee.The following articles were mentioned in the interview:OECD Working Paper – Gig Economy Platforms: Boon or Bane?Mises Institute article – Is the Sharing Economy Exploitative?In the episode, I alluded to the regulators taking a dim view of Uber in London. The latest news is that Uber is effectively on probation in London:Uber gets two-month operating license in London. It wanted five years

Craig Lawrence has three decades of experience as a professional economist and has advised on a wide range of infrastructure projects in Australia, the Pacific, and the Middle East. Part 2 of our conversation covers, among other things:public private partnerships or PPPs, their pros and their cons;challenges in infrastructure provision in emerging economies; andthe geopolitics of infrastructure (e.g. Chinese takeover of Sri Lankan port). 

Issues discussed include:drivers of rising incidence of apartment livingthe nature of strata titleissues for apartment owners - body corporate fees, management rightsapartment defects crisis in AustraliaAirbnbeconomic benefits of pets in apartmentsArticles relevant to the conversation include:Will 2018 be the year for Airbnb certainty in strata?Pets are good for your health, the budget, and the economyPets, Airbnb, and management rights

Information about our guest Craig Lawrence, Managing Director of Lytton Advisory:https://lyttonadvisory.com.au/craig-lawrence/