Economist John Humphreys believes Australia’s assistant competition minister is missing the bigger picture when he blames large business for the country’s slowing economy.
Humphreys, the chief economist at the Australian Taxpayers Alliance, said while Labor Minister Andrew Leigh had correctly identified the ongoing problems in the economy, his solution—to push for more Biden-era control over big companies—was “upside down.”
On Aug. 25, Leigh delivered the FH Gruen Lecture at the Australian National University, where he said Australia was experiencing slow productivity, more market concentration in the hands of a few big companies, higher profits for companies at the expense of consumers, and decreasing “dynamism”—the ability for workers to switch jobs for higher paying roles….