The Looking Forward Podcast

Are we in the West too focussed on trade to tackle China’s on human rights abuses in Hong Kong and with the Uighurs?  (00:01-21:00)  Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says our ageing population is an “economic time bomb”, but is he just softening boomers up for another tax and pension raid?  (21:00-33:00)  Boris Johnson is ahead in the polls, Boris’ deal a real Brexit and why did the Brexit Party give up?  (33:00-44:00).

Your hosts Scott Hargreaves and Dr Chris Berg are joined by the IPA’s Evan Mulholland and Daniel Wild to answer these questions and share their culture picks including H.P. Lovecraft’s 1936 classic sci-fi/horror novella, At the Mountains of Madness, a podcast by the Herald Sun about the 1999 Victorian state election between Jeff Kennett and Steve Bracks, and the Man in the High Castle, a sci-fi series on Amazon Prime which explores what the world would look like had the Axis powers won WWII (44.00-01.03.53).

SHOW NOTES

Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust, Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis

https://www.amazon.com/Rebooting-AI-Building-Artificial-Intelligence-ebook/dp/B07MYLGQLB

Ageing population is 'economic time bomb': Frydenberg, Australian Financial Review

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/ageing-population-is-economic-time-bomb-frydenberg-20191118-p53bgi

Paul Keating's speech on Australia's China policy – full text, The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/18/paul-keatings-speech-on-australias-china-policy-full-text

The Economics of ZPG, Chris Berg & Jason Potts, Quadrant

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2016/04/economics-zero-population-growth/

These Are the Brexit Battlegrounds That Will Decide the U.K. Election, Bloomberg

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-uk-election-primer/

How’s That? Daniel Wild, IPA Review

https://ipa.org.au/ipa-review-articles/hows-that

At the Mountains of Madness, H. P. Lovecraft

https://www.amazon.com/At-Mountains-Madness-Other-Terror/dp/0345329457

Face Off, Herald Sun (podcast)

https://open.spotify.com/show/0GO20vX5zmC7yUIhwCdey3?si=9t24ThwgQGm2lPudYpGXY

The Man in the High Castle (TV series)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1740299/

Corporate Virtue Signalling: How to Stop Big Business from Meddling in Politics, Jeremy Sammut

https://www.connorcourtpublishing.com.au/CORPORATE-VIRTUE-SIGNALLING-HOW-TO-STOP-BIG-BUSINESS-FROM-MEDDLING-IN-POLITICS--Jeremy-Sammut_p_264.html

What on earth is the Government up to with its Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme and how did Tony Abbott become Australia’s biggest threat to national security? (2:33-18:09) Where exactly is the Australian Research Council sending its grants the Humanities? (18:09-33:40) What does the reaction to the IPA’s ‘Race has no Place’ video say about the debate on the voice to parliament? (33:40-43:11)

Your hosts Scott Hargreaves and Dr Chris Berg are joined by the IPA’s Morgan Begg and Dr Bella D’Abrera to answer these questions and dive into their culture picks which include Netflix’s take on the Legend of Henry V, James Scott’s Against the Grain, David Watkin’s classic Morality and Architecture and the new Netflix investigation into Bill Gates’s brain (43:11-1:04:38)

Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act 2018

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018A00063

Bella d’Abrera, IPA, The Humanities in Crisis: An Audit of Taxpayer-Funded ARC Grants

https://ipa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/The-Humanities-in-Crisis-An-Audit-of-Taxpayer-funded-Arc-Grants.pdf

IPA Video: Race Has No Place in the Constitution

https://ipa.org.au/ipa-tv/race-has-no-place-in-the-australian-constitution

Anthony Dillon on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Peoples (2017)

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2017/07/constitutional-recognition-indigenous-peoples/

Culture Picks:

The King; Netflix

https://www.netflix.com/au/title/80182016

Against the Grain; James C. Scott

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34324534-against-the-grain

Morality and Architecture; David Watkin

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1856886.Morality_and_Architecture_Revisited

Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates; Netflix

https://www.netflix.com/au/title/80184771

What led to the remarkable fall of the Berlin Wall nearly thirty years ago and the collapse of the Soviet Union just two years later? What is the legacy and threat of communism as an ideology and a geo-political force? (2:12-1:01:10) In anticipation of the anniversary on November 9th,  your hosts Scott Hargreaves and Dr Chris Berg along with historians Dr Richard Allsop and Dr Zac Gorman answer these questions as well as divulge their Berlin Wall themed culture picks including film Barbara set in East Germany, Stephane Courtois’ The Black Book of Communism, a documentary on the Pope’s role in overcoming communism and John Le Carre’s classic The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1:01:10-1:17:21).

Show Notes:

The Struggle to Save the Soviet Economy: Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of the USSR (The New Cold War History); Chris Miller

https://www.amazon.com/Struggle-Save-Soviet-Economy-Gorbachev/dp/1469630176

Culture Picks:

Barbara; Christian Petzold

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2178941/

The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression; Stephane Courtois

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/106169.The_Black_Book_of_Communism

Liberating a Continent: John Paul II and the Fall of Communism; David Naglieri

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5461680/

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold; John Le Carre

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19494.The_Spy_Who_Came_In_from_the_Cold

Why is Australia’s economic growth grinding to a halt while the US is going gangbusters? Might it have something to do with cutting red tape and reducing taxes? This week your hosts Scott Hargreaves and Dr Chris Berg are joined by the IPA’s Director of Research, Daniel Wild, and special guest Dr Patrick McLaughlin, Director of Policy Analytics at the Washington DC based Mercatus Center. They’ll be tackling everything from a new tool being adopted by US and Canadian Governments to tackle Red Tape (RegData), the impact Trump has made on restraining the US bureaucracy, and whether artificial intelligence means robots will displace humans (1:54-43:16) as well as diving into culture picks including the new Steven Soderbergh film The Laundromat, Ian Mclean’s Why Australia Prospered, Neal Stephenson’s sci-fi classic The Diamond Age and Tyler Cowen’s Big Business: A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero.

RegData: Australia; Mercatus Center

https://www.mercatus.org/publications/regulation/regdata-australia

How much law do we have to obey? Chris Berg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wV5kUDVcT0

How British Columbia Defeated Red Tape – And How We Can Too; Gideon Rozner

https://ipa.org.au/ipa-tv/how-british-columbia-defeated-red-tape-and-how-we-can-too

IPA’s Red Tape Research Program

https://ipa.org.au/research-areas/red-tape

Culture Picks:

Chris: The laundromat (Netflix)

https://www.netflix.com/au/title/80994011

Dan: Why Australia Prospered; Ian Mclean

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691154671/why-australia-prospered

Patrick: The Diamond Age; Neal Stephenson

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/827.The_Diamond_Age

Scott: Big Business: A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero; Tyler Cowen

https://www.amazon.com/Big-Business-Letter-American-Anti-Hero/dp/1250110548

Right to Know is a great principle to get behind, but why should journalists be given special legal privileges? And wouldn’t they need be licensed?  (2:05-19:03) Who would get to distinguish truth from lies in election campaigns under proposed new election advertising? (Hint: not you) (19:03-34:14) This Nobel Prize season the welcome focus on African achievements gets us thinking: how best to secure economic growth in the developing world? (34:14-47:12) Your hosts Scott Hargreaves and Dr Chris Berg are joined by the IPA’s Andrew Bushnell and the Young IPA Podcast’s Peter Gregory to answer these questions as well as talk about their culture picks including so called whistleblower Edward Snowden’s memoir Permanent Record, Harold Bloom’s national bestseller The Western Canon, classic action film To Live and Die in L.A. and Netflix’s latest season of its Brummie crime drama Peaky Blinders (47:12-1:06:09).

Show Notes:           

Army’s reports kept secret to avoid flak on social media; The Australian

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/armys-reports-kept-secret-to-avoid-flak-on-social-media/news-story/92b4d6fb4470dd90d409aa283350c01c

Liberal MPs complain about GetUp at inquiry into 2019 election; The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/21/liberal-mps-complain-about-getup-at-inquiry-into-2019-election

AEC reveals candidate privacy breach, while MPs call for truth in advertising laws; The Age

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/aec-reveals-candidate-privacy-breach-while-mps-call-for-truth-in-advertising-laws-20191022-p532z0.html

Promoting peace and reconciliation

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2019/press-release/

Research to help the world’s poor

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2019/press-release/

Can privatisation solve Ethiopia’s problems? Marginal Revolution

https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/06/can-privatization-solve-ethiopias-problems.html

The Atlas Network’s Doing Development Differently Project.

https://www.atlasnetwork.org/difference/

Book Review: The White Man’s Burden; The Institute of Public Affairs

https://ipa.org.au/ipa-review-articles/hargreaves-review-white-mans-burden

Culture Picks:

Permanent Record; Edward Snowden

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46223297-permanent-record

The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages; Harold Bloom

https://www.amazon.com/Western-Canon-Books-School-Ages/dp/1573225142

The Western Canon reviewed by Scott Hargreaves; 100 Great Books of Liberty

https://ipa.org.au/ipa-today/the-books-and-schools-of-the-ages

List of books recommended by Harold Bloom in the Western Canon; Adelaide University

https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/l/literature/bloom/complete.html

To Live and Die in L.A; William Friedkin

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090180/ 

Peaky Blinders, Netflix

https://www.netflix.com/au/title/80002479

Is Extinction Rebellion giving protest a bad name and do we need tougher laws to crack down on their disruptive antics? (1:26-15:25) Is there a cultural cringe at our universities and is that why they’re killing off Australian history? (15:25-28:32) Has ScoMo caught the inquiry disease and become a do-nothing PM? As he might say, we’ll look into it! (28:32-41:40) Your hosts Scott Hargreaves and Dr Chris Berg are joined by the IPA’s very own Gideon Rozner and Renee Gorman to tackle these questions as well as dive into their culture picks such the recent Nobel Prize in economics, Stephen King’s classic horror novel “Pet Sematary”, Annelise Nielson’s bank bashing book “Money Spinners” and Jeffrey M. Chwieroth and Andrew Walter’s new book “The Wealth Effect”. (41:40-59:42).

Show Notes:

Calls to review 'excessive' protest laws in wake of Extinction Rebellion arrests, The Sydney Morning Herald

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/calls-to-review-excessive-protest-laws-in-wake-of-extinction-rebellion-arrests-20191010-p52zhq.html

Call to promote Australian culture, The Australian

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/call-to-promote-australian-culture/news-story/11fbc6cf6f4f4cd71cdbc042ccf07e8f

‘Universities neglect Australian studies’, The Australian

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/universities-neglect-australian-studies/news-story/ad2c525507ce1bf3ae830e317ce38841

Leaders told to lead and stop passing the buck to bureaucrats, The Australian

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/leaders-told-to-lead-and-stop-passing-the-buck-to-bureaucrats/news-story/57ed5a56d286e5c9ab289a4bba92b5c5

Culture Picks:

Nobel Prizes in Economic Sciences

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lists/all-prizes-in-economic-sciences/

The Poverty Lab, The New Yorker

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/05/17/the-poverty-lab

Pet Sematary, Stephen King

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33124137-pet-sematary

Annelise Nielson, Money Spinners

https://www.penguin.com.au/books/money-spinners-9781760893170

The Wealth Effect: How the Great Expectations of the Middle Class Have Changed the Politics of Banking Crises; Jeffrey M. Chwieroth; Andrew Walter

https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Effect-Expectations-Changed-Politics/dp/131660778X

Wealth anxiety and political populism in democracies, Andrew Walter

http://alumni.online.unimelb.edu.au/s/1182/match/wide.aspx?sid=1182&gid=1&pgid=17885&cid=25514&ecid=25514

Scott Morrison has criticised ‘negative globalism’. What makes sticking up for the nation state “Trumpian”? (1:39-23:48) The Liberal Party is currently celebrating its 75th anniversary has it become too much of a broad church/election machine to inspire conservative voters? (23:48-35:51) The NBA went into meltdown after a tweet made by the Houston Rockets’ general manager supporting Hong Kong protestors. Could – just maybe – the massive Chinese sports market have anything to do with it?  (35:51-51:20) Your hosts Scott Hargreaves and Dr Chris Berg are joined by the IPA’s Andrew Bushnell and Dr Zac Gorman to answer these questions as well as dive into their culture picks which include classic journalism movie All the President’s Men, Douglas Murray’s new book The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity, the hugely popular TV show Breaking Bad and the latest anti-hero movie to hit cinemas, Joker.

The 2019 Lowy Lecture: Prime Minister Scott Morrison

https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/2019-lowy-lecture-prime-minister-scott-morrison

Scott Morrison Echoes Trump as he Warns Nations Must Avoid ‘Negative Globalism’; Katharine Murphy & Ben Doherty

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/03/scott-morrison-echoes-trump-as-he-warns-nations-must-avoid-negative-globalism

Liberal Party to celebrate 75th anniversary

https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6093230829001

Daryl Morey Tweet

https://twitter.com/dmorey/status/1181000808399114240?s=19

Culture Picks:

All the President’s Men; Alan J. Pakula

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074119/

The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity; Douglas Murray

https://www.amazon.com/Madness-Crowds-Gender-Race-Identity/dp/1635579988

Joker; Todd Phillips

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7286456/

Breaking Bad; Vince Gilligan

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/

More on the Impeachment story in the US as even Scott Morrison gets dragged in by the Democrats. Real issue or deep state hit job? (1:54-20:40) Is the legalisation of cannabis in the ACT last week even necessary when we've already got functional decriminalisation, and what happens with Commonwealth laws? (20:40-34:40) The 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China was marked with an expansive military parade but what's to celebrate in  this totalitarian dictatorship? (34:40-46:37) Your hosts Scott Hargreaves and Dr Chris Berg are joined by adjunct fellow Aaron Lane and the IPA’s Daniel Wild to answer these questions as well as divulge their culture picks such as the The Best Political Cartoons of the Year 2005, the late Napoleon Chagnon’s Noble Savages, Chris and Aaron’s latest book on Cyrptodemocracy and AFL’s recent grand final runners up, GWS (46:37-1:09:02).

Show Notes:

Donald Trump asked Australia to help investigate the Mueller probe. What's it got to do with impeachment?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-01/donald-trump-scott-morrison-impeachment-what-you-need-to-know/11563098

Culture Picks:

The Best Political Cartoons of the Year, 2005 Edition

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-01/donald-trump-scott-morrison-impeachment-what-you-need-to-know/11563098

Noble Savages: My Life Among Two Dangerous Tribes -- the Yanomamo and the Anthropologists, Napoleon Chagnon

https://www.amazon.com.au/Noble-Savages-Dangerous-Yanomamo-Anthropologists-ebook/dp/B006VJN2FE

How Blockchain Can Radically Expand Democratic Choice, Darcy Allen; Chris Berg; Aaron Lane

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498579636/Cryptodemocracy-How-Blockchain-Can-Radically-Expand-Democratic-Choice

Scott Morrison’s diplomacy in his trip the USA was all matey and bit cringy, but successful, and he got out of town just in time for the Democrats to declare the Ukraine/Biden/Trump imbroglio was enough for impeachment. (1:45-19:54) New Hope Mine in Queensland is mired in approval hell in Australia’s longest running mine dispute and it’s time the legal privileges given to environmental activists are wound back (19:54-30:28) What’s Buggin’ Kevin this week? The two-time former PM thinks the ABC favours the Greens (who knew?) and the main threat to democracy is the Murdoch Empire, and. What other gems can be found in his speech? (30:28-42:08) Your hosts Scott Hargreaves and Dr Chris Berg are joined by the IPA’s Dr Zac Gorman and Kurt Wallace to answer these questions as well as dive into their culture picks such as Dream Machine, a reflection on the NRL’s Canberra Raiders and what they reveal about our nation’s capital, and Austro Libertarian Magazine: a new journal of Austrian economics and libertarianism (42:08-1:02:48).

Show Notes:

Donald Trump will (probably) never be impeached

New Hope blasts green groups’ loophole on secondary boycotts, Brad Thompson

Oakey businesses owners threatened with boycotts have called for calm, John McCarthy

The Complacent Country: Alternative Visions for Australia’s Democracy, The Need for a Royal Commission into the Abuse of Media Power, Kevin Rudd

Culture Picks: 

The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal, M. Mitchell Waldrop

Following the ACCC’s digital platforms inquiry, Facebook amongst others has argued its recommendations make targeted advertising unworkable. Are the proposed regulations just protecting weaker competitors? (1:21-17:03) As incarceration rates rise to unsustainable levels, how can we make punishment work while offering a path to redemption and a productive life? (17:03-32:16) There’s been an outbreak of wokeness at the International Council for Museums (yes, it exists), and the new (and interminable) definition of  “museum” is the distilled essence of post-modern nonsense. (32:16-47:27) Your hosts Scott Hargreaves and Dr Chris Berg are joined by the IPA’s criminal justice expert Andrew Bushnell and adjunct fellow Sinclair Davidson to answer these questions as well as divulge their culture picks which include American drama series Boardwalk Empire, Netflix’s Spanish crima dramas Money Heist, the latest Blockchain books authored by Chris and Sinclair themselves, and Amazon Prime’s new series The Boys.

Show Notes

Why Western Australia Needs Criminal Justice Reform, Andrew Bushnell

https://ipa.org.au/publications-ipa/why-western-australia-needs-criminal-justice-reform

From jail to earning $150k a year – Korey Penny’s case could be a blueprint for WA prison reform

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-05/prison-incarceration-rates-rise-steeply-in-wa/11475350

Trying to redefine museums: a disease of our times (Henry Ergas)

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/trying-to-redefine-museums-a-disease-of-our-times/news-story/8412ab485b9f29ecc68c2c688eb8a341

Digital Platforms Inquiry

https://consult.treasury.gov.au/structural-reform-division/digital-platforms-inquiry/

Culture Picks:

Boardwalk Empire (Terence Winter)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0979432/

Money Heist (Alex Pina)

https://www.netflix.com/title/80192098

Understanding the Blockchain Economy: An Introduction to Institutional Cryptoeconomics, Chris Berg; Sinclair Davidson; Jason Potts

https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/understanding-the-blockchain-economy

Cryptodemocracy: How Blockchain Can Radically Expand Democratic Choice, Darcy Allen; Chris Berg; Aaron Lane

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498579636/Cryptodemocracy-How-Blockchain-Can-Radically-Expand-Democratic-Choice

The Boys (Garth Ennis, Seth Rogen et al)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1190634/