Economic Dynamism: A Global Perspective

Andrew Leigh

Warren Hogan Lecture at the University of Sydney

Andrew Leigh, Economic Dynamism: A Global Perspective, Warren Hogan Lecture at the University of Sydney, 14 November 2022

Excerpt

Today, I want to go global. In this talk, I will draw on three examples of competition reform from around the world:

• the United States and the great trust breakup of the early 1900s

• Germany and the breakup of industrial giant IG Farben, and

• Canada and the long road to modern competition law.

Each is a fascinating story because these competition reforms were not driven by blind ideology but by a practical desire to boost living standards and ensure that economic power is broadly distributed across the community.

I will explore the causes and consequence of each example and their relevance to the Australian economy – an economy where the business start‑up rate and job switching have declined, while market concentration and markups have risen.