Hello and welcome to another episode of Getting Hot in Here! After a short break between episodes, we wanted to talk about the economics of the lockdown. We know that rebuilding the economy after the recession caused by the lockdown will take some time and will be challenging - but what if it also provides an opportunity for growth in a greener direction?

Today's episode is an interview with a very special guest. Chris Core has been teaching economics for over 30 years, and has been passionate about sustainability for even longer. He also happens to be Nik's dad.

He sat down for a virtual chat about what a post-COVID rebuild could look like, if we decide to invest in renewable energy and transition away from fossil fuels. We start off with a bit of an 'Econ 101' - a crash course in key terms and concepts that we need to know when talking about rebuilding an economy. We talk about what economics can teach us about the way forward post-COVID, and the opportunity that a downturn presents to challenge paradigms that aren't working for us anymore. We also talk about what a sustainable transition could look like for the Australian economy, and how we could get there.

Note: since we recorded the episode, it was revealed that there was a miscalculation and that the $130 billion COVID-19 relief scheme JobKeeper will actually cost around $70 billion: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/27/work-in-progress-a-60bn-miscalculation-could-make-jobkeeper-fairer-and-lead-to-quicker-recovery#maincontent

Sources and further reading:

•International Monetary Fund - https://www.imf.org/external/index.htm

•The Dutch Tulip Market Bubble - https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dutch_tulip_bulb_market_bubble.asp

•The Institute of Sustainable Futures (ISF) https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/institute-sustainable-futures

•Ross Garnaut book launch - Superpower: Australia's Low Carbon Opportunity https://www.uts.edu.au/news/social-justice-sustainability/book-launch-superpower-australias-low-carbon-opportunity

•Climate change and disease - https://www.echo.net.au/2020/05/planet-watch-climate-change-and-disease/

•For some great analysis of the decline of fossil fuel industry and the opportunity presented to rebuild sustainably after COVID-19, check out https://carbontracker.org/

Links to get involved:

•Get-Up - https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/covid-recovery/stop-the-ungi-keep-energy-funding-honest/sign-keep-energy-funding-honest?t=AX29wesNnz&utm_content=28898&utm_campaign=Coal_cash_grab&utm_source=blast&utm_medium=email

•Greenpeace -