On this Democracy Sausage Extra, Peter Martin joins Mark Kenny to discuss why the COVID-19 recession has presented Treasurer Josh Frydenberg with the chance to permanently reduce unemployment.

Is it possible for Australia to permanently lower its unemployment rate to around 3.5 per cent? What can policymakers learn from the last recession, after which the country was able to dramatically reduce inflation? And how bold is Treasurer Josh Frydenberg willing to be in pursuit of what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? On this Democracy Sausage Extra, Business and Economy Editor of The Conversation Peter Martin and Professor Mark Kenny discuss unemployment and the Australian economy in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

Peter Martin AM is a Visiting Fellow at Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University (ANU) and the Business and Economy Editor of The Conversation.

Mark Kenny is a Professor at ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to [email protected]. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.

This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.