Programs & Projects
The International Economics Program
The International Economics program aims to explain developments in the international economy, and influence policy. It does so by undertaking independent analytical research.
The International Economics program contributes to the Lowy Institute’s core publications: policy briefs and policy analyses. For example, the program contributed the Lowy Institute Paper, John Edwards’ Beyond the Boom, which argued that Australia’s transition away from the commodities boom will be quite smooth.
Experts
Latest publications
News and media
The first rule of a trade war: know thine enemy
If the US and China do manage to reach agreement on their current economic dispute, what happens next?
Forebodingly for the government that Australia elects on 18 May, all of…
The useful myth of central bank independence
One of the sustaining myths of modern economics is that central banks are independent, able to pursue monetary policy free from the pressures of politics. This makes monetary…
The sudden interest in Modern Monetary Theory
The decade since the financial crisis of 2008 has been unkind to conventional economics. The gap between the observed facts and mainstream theory opened an opportunity for…
What might a US-China trade deal look like?
Perhaps they will, perhaps they won’t, but if China and the US do reach a trade agreement in coming weeks it will likely be very long. Meeting to seal the deal, President…
An orthodox economic take on climate change shocks
In a debate as politically fractious as climate change, it is useful to have credible voices joining the fray. On Tuesday night, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) waded into the…
Book review: Winners take all
Book Review: Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World, by Anand Giridharadas (Knopf Doubleday, 2018)
Anand Giridharadas, TED talking-head, columnist,…
A Tobin tax: an idea whose time has come for Indonesia
It is almost half-a-century since economist James Tobin proposed a small transaction tax to stabilise volatile global capital flows.
Tobin’s proposal followed the breakdown of…
Is Australia wise to pick sides in US-China trade war?
The US-China trade war is viewed by many as a dark cloud over the global economy. So why is Australia’s ambassador to the US, Joe Hockey, seemingly urging Trump to go harder, and…
Research Notes
East Asia’s decoupling
East Asia is no longer reliant on US or Western markets to fuel its growth, giving it more room to manage amid global trade tensions.
Why the gloom? Global economic prospects
“Winter is coming” warned Indonesian President Joko Widodo in his address at the October meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group in Bali. He wasn’t talking…