John Quiggin

Green Army: Persons of Interest

[The] culture wars are just a device to keep the right-wing base agitated enough to turn out [and] keep pro-rich politicians in office. …
The great majority of [climate change] “sceptics” are, in fact, credulous believers in what they are told by trusted authority figures, notably including conservative political leaders.

— Climate claims a victory in the culture wars, Inside Story, 17 December 2015.


The Global Financial Crisis has shown that, for most of the past decade, market estimates of the relative riskiness and return of alternative investments have been entirely unrelated to reality. …

In Australia … it has become routine for retired politicians, of all political persuasions, to be offered cushy jobs in the financial sector, provided, of course, that they have followed the right kinds of policies when in office. …
Public office is no longer a goal in itself but a stepping stone to bigger and more profitable goals.
The incentives to promote the interests of the financial sector while in office are obvious. …

An analysis by the New Economics Foundation concluded that for each pound paid to British bankers, society incurred a net loss of ten pounds. …
A study by the Center for Responsive Politics showed that about two-thirds of US senators were millionaires in 2008.

— Zombie Economics, Princeton University Press, 2012, pp 190, 186, 174-5.


Traditional models of on-the-job training (apprenticeships and traineeships) are in decline.
Funding for vocational education through the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) system has been slashed leading to the closure of manyTAFEs and large-scale loss of teaching staff.
Meanwhile, billions of dollars have been wasted on ideologically driven experiments with market competition and forprofit provision.

— Submission to the South Australian Senate inquiry into Vocational Education and Training.