Markets and the State

Malcolm Abbott is Associate Professor of Economics at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.

‘Markets and the State is a much-needed addition to the applied economics literature in Australia. Diverse Australian policies are lucidly assessed using microeconomic techniques. This book has an excellent coverage of topics. These range from those focusing on business and industry to ones involving social welfare and the state of the environment. Markets and the State deserves to be widely used as a text and should also be of value for reference purposes. I wish there were more books like this applying economics to Australia’s situation.’— Clem Tisdell, Professor Emeritus, The University of Queensland, Australia‘Balancing the roles of market and state benefits much from a knowledge of the economics of each. Malcolm Abbott's book is itself a splendidly balanced guide to this area. It presents the essential economics accessibly and with surety. It applies the insights to the key areas that make up micro-economic policy. And it illustrates these for the highly informative case of Australia since the reform era of the 1980s’ — Glenn Withers, Professor at Australian National University & University of New South Wales and President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia

• PART I: THEMES AND METHODS 1. Introduction 2. The public policy process in Australia 3. Economic policy and efficiency PART II: ECONOMIC POLICY 4. Industry policy 5. Agricultural policy 6. Government support for research and development 7. Trade Practices 8. The National Competition Policy 9. Government business enterprises and privatisation 10. Energy policy 11. Utility regulation in Australia 12. Infrastructure 13. Labour markets 14. Training and education markets PART III: SOCIAL POLICIES, ENVIRONMENT AND TAXATION 15. Social policy and the welfare state in Australia 16. Healthcare 17. Revenue raising. tax policy 18. Environmental Policy PART IV: CONCLUSION 19. Conclusion