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dc.contributor.convenorAndrea Campbell and Lisa Martin
dc.contributor.authorTiernan, Anne-Maree
dc.contributor.editorMichael C. Jensen (Chairman SSRN)
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-03T11:57:43Z
dc.date.available2017-05-03T11:57:43Z
dc.date.issued2010
dc.date.modified2011-06-02T05:08:47Z
dc.identifier.refurihttp://www.apsanet.org/mtgs/program_2010/
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/34649
dc.description.abstractThe global financial crisis (GFC) of 2008 sent the economies of major developed nations into freefall. As credit markets froze and investor and consumer confidence collapsed to levels not seen since the Great Depression, governments clamoured to develop policies and interventions aimed at preventing wholesale economic meltdown. The Australian economy has come through the crisis relatively unscathed. In contrast to most other advanced economies, Australia avoided recession and, despite dire forecasts, has experienced only modest increases in rates of unemployment. Consumer confidence has recovered, investment is returning and the economy has performed consistently above expectations. What accounts for Australia's success in navigating the global financial crisis? Economists will emphasise the combination of monetary and fiscal policy responses - significant cuts to interest rates, large stimulus packages, bank guarantees and other stabilising measures that were rapidly deployed as the crisis unfolded; the underlying strength of the nation's economy, surplus budgets, comparatively low rates of debt and effective prudential regulation. Each of these was undoubtedly crucial, but as this paper argues, features inherent to the institutions of Australian governance must also be taken into account. This paper examines the structures of advice and support to Australian decision-makers that enabled decisive action to be taken and decisions implemented as the financial crisis loomed. It highlights the significance of the economic policy settings established by successive Australian governments, supported by a cadre of economic advisers - career officials and partisans, whose experience and institutional memory proved valuable to the newly-elected Labor government. The paper argues that Australia's success owes much to timely and effective policy responses deployed quickly as the financial crisis loomed. The government's pre-emptive and aggressive response to the global financial crisis and the design of its fiscal policies was supported and enabled by an advisory system that had prepared for and which consciously drew on the lessons learned during earlier downturns. It concludes that the policy learning of key actors within the advisory and decision-making system was significant in helping to position Australia's economy to withstand the most significant economic shock since the Great Depression.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.description.publicationstatusYes
dc.format.extent143959 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherSocial Science Research Network
dc.publisher.placeUnited States
dc.publisher.urihttp://ssrn.com/abstract=1665974
dc.relation.ispartofstudentpublicationN
dc.relation.ispartofconferencenameAPSA 2010: 106th American Political Science Association Annual Meeting
dc.relation.ispartofconferencetitleAPSA 2010 Washington, D.C. Meeting
dc.relation.ispartofdatefrom2010-09-02
dc.relation.ispartofdateto2010-09-05
dc.relation.ispartoflocationWashington, DC
dc.rights.retentionY
dc.subject.fieldofresearchAustralian Government and Politics
dc.subject.fieldofresearchPublic Policy
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode160601
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode160510
dc.titleWeathering the Global Financial Crisis: Reflections on the Capacity of the Institutions of Australian Governance
dc.typeConference output
dc.type.descriptionE1 - Conferences
dc.type.codeE - Conference Publications
gro.facultyGriffith Business School, School of Government and International Relations
gro.rights.copyright© The Author(s) 2010. The attached file is posted here with permission of the copyright owner for your personal use only. No further distribution permitted. For information about this conference please refer to the publisher's website or contact the author.
gro.date.issued2010
gro.hasfulltextFull Text
gro.griffith.authorTiernan, Anne


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    Contains papers delivered by Griffith authors at national and international conferences.

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