In the Wake of Economic Reform: New Prospects for a National Building State

12 December 2007

Professor Michael Pusey

Has economic reform run its course? What potential remains for the resumption of nation building progress? Contrary to expectations Canberra emerges from 20 years of neo-liberalism with disciplined government, ample revenues, an effective regulative apparatus and – perhaps – the capacity for government to steer the economy towards a brighter future.

In this lecture, Professor Pusey weighs these prospects against the negative impacts of neo-liberalism on our institutions and then examines from the three viewpoints of: our national political experience, the administrative apparatus, and popular expectations.

Professor Pusey then considers the dynamic energies inherent in the challenges, respectively, of climate change, infrastructure development, and economic policies based on enhancing of quality of life.

Michael is a Professor of Sociology in the School of Sociology, University of New South Wales, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. In the early 1990s Michael Pusey's book Economic Rationalism in Canberra: A Nation-Building State Changes its Mind , started a national debate on economic rationalism and brought the term into public usage. His most recent book, The Experience of Middle Australia , examines the impact of economic restructuring on incomes, jobs, families, communities, politics and Australian culture.

Broad Topics: Arts and Social Sciences

Sub-topics: Economics, Policy & Political Science

Areas: ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences