Public Choice Theory had Negligible Effect on Australian Microeconomic Policy, 1970s to 2000s

Jonathan Pincus

No 2014-02, School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers from University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy

Abstract: Since The Calculus of Consent (1962), Public Choice has had little influence on the course of public policy in Australia and, in particular, virtually none on the seismic shift from a policy regime antagonistic to competition, to one that gives conditional approval. Competition, of the attenuated Arrow-Debreu type, led ineluctably to efficiency, if and only if market failures and government failures were corrected. The dismantling of tariff protection illustrates how Computable General Equilibrium modelling reflected the Arrow-Debreu program. Paradoxically, Public Choice antipathy towards interest groups helped create a vast space for public regulation by (presumptively) benevolent and disinterested public servants.

Pages: 11 pages
Date: 2014-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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