Not offered in 1996. To be advised. A pass in a second- or third-year economic history subject or 316-201 Macroeconomics or 316-202 Microeconomics. Second semester Two 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial a week. On completion of this subject, students should be able to:

• Analyse a number of current economic policy debates from a historical and comparative perspective;
• Understand how and why economic ideas are, or have been, accepted or rejected as the basis for new policy approaches.

This subject considers a variety of contemporary Australian economic policy debates--over such things as stabilisation policy, deregulation, taxation reform, protection, and immigration--and discusses them with reference to their historical context (by considering similar debates which have occurred in the past) and international context (by discussing similar debates which have occurred, or are occurring, abroad). The subject is also concerned with the political power of economic ideas. It seeks to explain why some economic ideas acquire political influence while others do not, the conditions which are necessary for ideas to become the basis for new policy approaches, and the mechanisms by which economic ideas become accepted and implemented by governments. This involves, among other things, an examination of the growth of economics as a profession and the different ways in which academic and government economists interact. An essay of up to 3,000 words (40 per cent). A 2-hour end-of-semester examination (60 per cent).