This major new study of the philosophical roots of economics examines the impact on eighteenth century economic thought of the rivalry between two opposing philosophical outlooks: rationalism and anti-rationalism. The economic thought of this period, William Coleman argues, was a synthesis of...

In this tightly argued work William Coleman explores the macroeconomic implications of politically based restraints on competition in labour markets.

This book explores the causes, costs and benefits of inflation. It argues that while the cause of inflation is essentially monetary, the costs and benefits of inflation lie in inflation’s distortion of the economy's responses to real shocks.

Like many industrialised economies in the pre-depression era, Australia elected to maintain a highly protectionist trade policy regime and hence to retard its integration with the global economy. The rationale for Australia’s protectionism was, as elsewhere, the enhancement of worker welfare....

Australia is notably, if not notoriously, a land of much space but few people. Its population density is, correspondingly, almost the lowest of any country in the world: only Namibia and Mongolia record a lower figure. Australia's extreme divergence from the common human experience has been a...

Bob Gregory contrasts ‘the presuppositions of Royal Parade’ of 1950 Melbourne with the present outlook of himself and Australia at large. He outlines the evolution of his methodological position from the University of Melbourne student to the Canberra policy advisor, and defends that...