Six papers on applied microeconomic policy. (Volumes I and II).

摘要

This two-volume dissertation is about practical policy making. Five published papers make up the bulk of it. They cover domestic agricultural policy in Australia, Australian economic policy (two short papers); and international agricultural policy (two papers). The author is a senior Australian bureaucrat.; The papers are case studies of work undertaken in economic policy, and illustrations of the application of economic principles. They are put in their historical policy context in an introduction. Principles are covered in a separate essay.; The domestic agricultural policy paper was written during the transformation of Australia's farm programs from price support, to accelerated structural adjustment. The intersectoral role of protection is given prominence.; The papers on Australian economic policy are related to the efforts by the current Government, beginning in 1983, to improve long term growth. The first presents an analysis of the long term growth problem. The second advances a simple framework for tying together policy changes.; The first paper on international agricultural policy is a substantial monograph written at the outset of the Uruguay Round. While it stood independently as a contribution to the Round, it also provided the foundations for a seven-point plan launched by the Australian Prime Minister in Davos, Switzerland, in January 1987. The second paper added additional material on impediments to farm policy reform, with emphasis on the US. These papers were based on the theme that a dual process of concurrently reforming domestic policies; and the international trading system; was required.; The application of economic principles is illustrated in a separate seventy page unpublished essay. The focus of the essay is first on the gap between mainstream neoclassical microeconomics and the generally divergent world of policymaking. The problems the author faced in reconciling this conflict are highlighted. Second, numerous illustrations of the richness of economics in dealing with policy problems are given, with reference to the published papers and other experience. The need for entrepreneurship in applied economic policy is stressed, along with appropriate checks and balances.