Living in the 70s: why Australia’s dominant model of unemployment and inflation no longer works

Mon, 23 Oct 2023 03:43:45 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/living-in-the-70s-why-australias-dominant-model-of-unemployment-and-inflation-no-longer-works-211487>

"As we approach the release of Monday’s employment white paper we can expect to
hear a lot about something called the NAIRU – the so-called Non-Accelerating
Inflation Rate of Unemployment.

This ungainly acronym, which currently dominates the thinking of both the
Reserve Bank and the Treasury, derives its power almost entirely from the
economic crisis of the 1970s, and is overdue for reconsideration.

The story of the NAIRU begins even further back in time, in the 1940s, and is
best illustrated by a curious machine displayed in the entrance of the
Melbourne University Business, Economics and Education Library.

The MONIAC is a hydraulic computer, one of 12 constructed by New Zealand
economist Bill Phillips in 1949 to illustrate Keynesian economics.

MONIAC stands for MOnetary National Income Analog Computer, and, although the
machine is made out of tanks and pipes and valves and coloured water, it is a
working (early) computer."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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