Season 3, Ep 4: John Quiggin wants you to get a pay rise

Are you overdue for a big pay rise? Would moving to a 4-day standard working week be the best way for your employer to give you one (even if you work part-time)?

Economist and Professor John Quiggin thinks so — and he joins us for a fireside chat to explain this and other big ideas gathering momentum in modern economics today.

This is your episode if you want to better understand policies like a 4-Day Working Week, different forms of Basic Income, a National Employment Guarantee and how these things would work in practice. What’s inflationary? What can we afford? What about taxes? When does government debt actually matter, and what does the pathway to change look like?

John Quiggin is one of the most respected and prolific voices in Australian economics today. He is a VC Senior Fellow in Economics at the University of Queensland, with more than 1500 publications to his name — including six books. His latest, Economics in Two Lessons: Why Markets Work so Well and Why they can Fail so Badly, is published by Princeton University Press. See links to learn more and follow him in your show notes.

This episode of the reMAKERS was recorded in Gubbi Gubbi Country on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, as well as the land of the Turrbal and Jagera peoples in Meanjin, Brisbane. We honour Traditional Owners of these lands and waters, and pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging.

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Show notes

Things we mention

• Zombie Economics: How Dead Ideas Still Walk Among Us, book by John Quiggin

• 4DayWeek.com — the global campaign for a 4 day standard working week

• “Meet the Liveable Income Guarantee” — article in The Conversation by John Quiggin et al

• White Paper on Full Employment in Australia post WW2, and the more recent ‘Jobs and Skills Summit’

• “Deaths of Despair”

Recommendations and things you can do

• Check out John’s latest book, ‘Economics in Two Lessons: Why Markets Work So Well and Why They can Fail so Badly’.

• Read John’s newsletter on Substack. 

• Check out John’s website for a selection of his recently published media articles and more.

• Follow John on Mastodon. 

• Learn more about 4 Day Work Week, Basic Income and Full Employment Guarantee + get involved.

• Donate to support this podcast and keep it ad-free.

• Subscribe to the reMAKERS podcast (hit ‘follow’ in your podcast app). Share on social, write a review, tell a friend.

• Join the conversation. Find us on social media (@Australia reMADE) or email us at podcast@AustraliareMADE.org.