Fresh Economic Thinking

Apr 06 2025 98 ep. 29 mins 84
Fresh Economic Thinking Podcast artwork

Cameron Murray is famous for questioning sacred cows and conventional wisdoms of both left and right. We chat about Cameron's latest Twitter battle and then delve into a controversy. Wide-ranging analysis - no topic out of bounds - inequality, regulation, housing, superannuation, lockdowns, tax, war, the meaning of life.

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FET #53: How foreign aid fails and why scrapping USAID could empower development

Apr 06 2025 35 mins  
Anna Samson has had a decade-long career in aid, was a US State Department-funded Fulbright Scholar, and has a PhD in international relations and American foreign policy.In this episode we discuss the inadvertent economic and political outcomes of foreign aid on receiving nations. What surprised me was Anna’s view on the scale of the rent-seeking across the aid industry and the t

FET #52: Can we save 300 lives and $20 billion a year using basic economics to reduce road fatalities?

Mar 23 2025 73 mins  
Richard Tooth has a plan—save 300 lives a year on Australian roads. How? By using economic ideas to align risks and incentives better.Take a look at the chart below. People who die on Australia’s roads are young. Preventing a road death would save 40-50 years of life on average. That’s big. Cancer treatments typically save 4-10 life years, then we get five to ten times the li

FET #51: Paul Frijters on the CORONA PANIC DEBACLE after FIVE years

Mar 09 2025 76 mins  
Paul Frijters runs Academia Libera Mentis from a castle in Belgium. After a distinguished academic career in Australia and Europe, he is creating an academic oasis in the Ardennes for thinking, learning and growing. I’ve written before about this project.Today, we reflect on five years of the corona panic debacle, the economic and social fallout we are still experiencing, and wha

FET #50: Mark Diesendorf on why a renewables grid is economical

Feb 09 2025 102 mins  
A few weeks back, I had engineer Ben Beattie on the podcast to explain some of the unappreciated costs of transitioning to a renewable electricity grid. Before this, Aidan Morrison had explained how many of the costs required to deal with variation in when and where energy is produced from wind and solar were excluded from the (in)famous GenCost report from the CSIRO. Today, Profes

FET #49: Explaining rental inflation

Jan 26 2025 30 mins  
In a recent FET article, I explained how the rental market adjusts to inflation arising in non-housing goods and services. Find that article here:The key quote is this:Another insight from the rental equilibrium is that inflation in non-housing goods means that renter households can pay more for rent because that means giving up fewerother goods and services for an extra quantity o

Audiobook: Rigged (Ch 12 & 13 - Consequences and Costs)

Jan 22 2025 3 mins  
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.fresheconomicthinking.comPaid Fresh Economic Thinking subscribers can enjoy the audiobook version of Rigged: How networks of powerful mates rip off everyday Australians via their favourite podcast app.Chapters will be released weekly over the coming months.A physical copy or ebook can be bought here.Rigged was origin

FET #48: The "cheap renewables grid" myth with Ben Beattie

Jan 12 2025 93 mins  
Electrical engineer Ben Beattie runs The Baseload Podcast, providing “common sense and unfiltered commentary” on Australia’s energy sector. Given the enormous investments taking place now (and planned in the next decade) to transition Australia’s electricity grid to predominantly renewables, it is worth keeping a close eye on the engineering and economic realities at play.

Audiobook: Rigged (Ch 11 - Other mates)

Nov 27 2024 3 mins  
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.fresheconomicthinking.comPaid Fresh Economic Thinking subscribers can enjoy the audiobook version of Rigged: How networks of powerful mates rip off everyday Australians via their favourite podcast app.Chapters will be released weekly over the coming months.A physical copy or ebook can be bought here.Rigged was origin

Audiobook: Rigged (Ch 10 - Myths)

Nov 20 2024 3 mins  
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.fresheconomicthinking.comPaid Fresh Economic Thinking subscribers can enjoy the audiobook version of Rigged: How networks of powerful mates rip off everyday Australians via their favourite podcast app.Chapters will be released weekly over the coming months.A physical copy or ebook can be bought here.Rigged was origin

FET #47: Should you leave Australia? The economics of lifestyle arbitrage

Nov 19 2024 31 mins  
Cameron and Jonathan discuss the trend of moving from Australia to cheaper countries abroad to beat the cost of living and the apparent inability to get ahead down under. ——————Follow Cameron and Jonathan on X/Twitter. Buy The Great Housing Hijack here.Please like, comment, share, and subscribe.Theme music: Happy Swing by Serge Quadrado Music under Creative Commons Lice