Governomics: Can we afford small government?

Description

People have good reason to demand decent public education and a well-funded health system, to yearn for an economy that doesn't trash the environment or for a smaller gap between rich and poor. Almost without exception, sound economics is on their side. We've grown used to public debates that pit people and the planet against an abstract, distorted image of 'the economy', but it doesn t have to be this way. Governomics shows that an emaciated state is bad for business, and that standing up for government means standing up for a public sector that truly serves the public.

For most of his life Ian McAuley has lived and breathed public policy. He has been an engineer in a manufacturing firm (in the days when we had a home-grown manufacturing sector), a trade commissioner, a policy analyst and a manager in the federal Department of Industry, and more recently a lecturer in Public Sector Financial Management at the University of Canberra. He has worked on consultancies for Australian and foreign governments and for international agencies (the UN and the OECD). He is a regular contributor on public policy issues to The Conversation and New Matilda. Miriam Lyons is an Australian policy analyst, writer and commentator. She was co-founder and executive director of the Centre for Policy Development, a public-interest think-tank. She has been a regular guest on the ABC shows Q&A and The Drum, has contributed to several media outlets and co-edited the books Pushing Our Luck and More Than Luck. Earlier roles include policy editing for New Matilda, researching freedom of speech in East Timor, and organising ideas festivals. Together they have worked on public policy issues through the