One term Tony may be looking more likely if this morning's extract of an interview with Alan Jones is anything to go by. As reported in her Guardian blog by Kathrine Murphy:
Yes. Although perhaps to get the true effect of a round table meeting, each country needs to set up a "virtual reality" room, wherein each individual feed of a leader sitting at a desk is merged and projected onto a curved room wall, so it looks exactly like you're sitting at a large table with 20 other people. 'Cos to be honest, looking at a single monitor with one person at a time speaking (and the rest in tiny windows, perhaps) is not the same feeling as a real life meeting.
The other thing I think ludicrous about Abbott and Hockey was how they simply presented their policies as being the way to increase productivity - welfare reform, $7 co-payment and universities free to gouge students for whatever they'll pay were all apparently on their list of how their will achieve it, with (as far as I know) no explanation as to how the individual policies will actually help productivity.
I know that Steve but economics is supposed to be about rationality not feeling. Writing is even better than talking because it gives people time to interrogate the claims. Our most successful intellectual endeavours arise when people write documents which are then read by all the relevant experts.
These meetings are known to produce minimal outcomes. I am not surprised by that, it is a bad strategy to create good policy.
The irony is incredible Steve. 400 mill for a chinwag about improving economic efficieny. What about Skype?
ReplyDeleteYes. Although perhaps to get the true effect of a round table meeting, each country needs to set up a "virtual reality" room, wherein each individual feed of a leader sitting at a desk is merged and projected onto a curved room wall, so it looks exactly like you're sitting at a large table with 20 other people. 'Cos to be honest, looking at a single monitor with one person at a time speaking (and the rest in tiny windows, perhaps) is not the same feeling as a real life meeting.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I think ludicrous about Abbott and Hockey was how they simply presented their policies as being the way to increase productivity - welfare reform, $7 co-payment and universities free to gouge students for whatever they'll pay were all apparently on their list of how their will achieve it, with (as far as I know) no explanation as to how the individual policies will actually help productivity.
ReplyDeleteI know that Steve but economics is supposed to be about rationality not feeling. Writing is even better than talking because it gives people time to interrogate the claims. Our most successful intellectual endeavours arise when people write documents which are then read by all the relevant experts.
ReplyDeleteThese meetings are known to produce minimal outcomes. I am not surprised by that, it is a bad strategy to create good policy.