peter roberts
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced reforms to the Productivity Commission, an economic advisory body, to broaden and deepen its work on economic policy and to continue its focus on improving productivity.
Good luck then.
Workers had previously attempted to reform this bastion of neoliberal economics.By moving staff from Canberra to Melbourne, Workers would work more closely with industry rather than sticking to neoliberal economic theories. I wanted to get involved and react.
A PC commissioner visits an Australian factory committed to innovation and productivity and learns the old joke, “I know it works, but does it work in theory?” You must be
That effort failed and PC emerged with the same focus on building Australia’s comparative advantage – rather than creating competitive advantage through industrial policy – on the one hand, skills, child care and deregulation. and tinkering with the way the market works.
They are all fine. But let’s face reality. Making the market work better does not create a critical mineral supply he chain. Nor will we mass-produce computer chips, guided missiles, or antibiotics. Neither is currently done.
It is precisely the PC’s advocacy of ‘productivity-enhancing’ reforms, rather than activist industry policies, that has given Australia its fragile economic dependence on raw mineral exports and complex manufacturing stains.
The Harvard Atlas of Economic Complexity figures measure the diversity and research intensity of our exports.
Here, it has fallen from 55th in the 1990s to 86th out of 133 countries.
PC opposition to industry policy tips has led to massive policy failures over the last few decades.
Note, for example, that despite violently refusing to help the auto industry, it has not shaken off huge subsidies to the fossil fuel sector.
Then there is the mantra of market competitiveness.
Of course, they moved to courses that were cheaper to offer, often handing out worthless diplomas.
The government-funded VET sector, which had to deliver technical courses that required equipment and computing, lost its ability to cross-subsidize its operations.
Of course, it is straight out of the neoliberal playbook, undermining the public provision of services to make it less effective, thus paving the way for even more privatization.
The Commission has long given the same advice to the federal government, but it has completely sabotaged the Australian economy.
In the past there was the Bureau of Industry and Economics, now defunct with the Australian Manufacturing Council, whose real-world view matched the dry thinking of economists.
Chalmers Reform will achieve nothing unless the reform is at its core, including the dismissal of several Commissioners, and introduces industry realities into the PC mindset.
Photo: Productivity Committee
References:
Productivity Commission fires blanks in report on fostering innovation
Election 22 The Real Problem – Industry Policy Dog Roy Greene Didn’t Bark
