- 133
- Episodes
- 15
- Ratings
- Bi-weekly
- Cadence
- 2021
- First episode
- 32K
- YouTube views
About Fresh Economic Thinking
Cameron Murray is famous for questioning sacred cows and conventional wisdoms of both left and right. We chat about Cameron's latest Twitter battle and then delve into a controversy. Wide-ranging analysis - no topic out of bounds - inequality, regulation, housing, superannuation, lockdowns, tax, war, the meaning of life. www.fresheconomicthinking.com (https://www.fresheconomicthinking.com?utm_medium=podcast)
- Publisher
- Cameron Murray
- Category
- news · society & culture
- Language
- en
- Explicit
- No
- First episode
- 17 Sept 2021
- Latest episode
- 18 Oct 2026
Latest episodes
133 episodes in the feed.
18 Oct 2026
FET #82: Matt Lloyd-Cape explains what’s wrong with housing in Australia and how history shows us how to fix it
My friend Matt Lloyd-Cape just released his book, Our Place (https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/our-place), about the story of housing in Australia. Our views on housing differ somewhat, which made for a more interesting chat. Though we both arrive at similar conclusions about the need for government and non-market housing if we want to make large changes to housing outcomes, we disagree about the extent and effectiveness of interventions in the markets. For example, Matt favours financial subsidies in the form of publicly provided discounted mortgages, which can give households who qualify a leg. I see that as just another cash subsidy (which rises in value with the value of the home you buy) which is hidden by being amortised in the form of a cheaper mortgage. We already have cash subsidies in Australia for first home buyers in the form of cash grants and discounted stamp duty (which has the same net effect). Do we need or want more? I don’t know. You can read an extract of the book here (https://www.communitydirectors.com.au/articles/our-place-extract-when-the-australian-dream-becomes-a-lifelong-disadvantage), and buy the book at Amazon here (https://www.amazon.com.au/Our-Place-Housing-Rebuild-Australian/dp/1760645915/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1RWZU7T9POU73&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.UAOM_V0Apy8R9cPJGxTvzqCbZQD8pKOqRdkDh-mf0z0NUTV_5datffyC8Lt49J2EuuYttzMitUrmazcyCaqQZndWPp3KjIsEvVshFP_bJ4xaPWZoNbbn3zTehjcSH4_LO2gQDAQeeWQBWrd0pmYlWncWco2ZrUwX_JGw--5sCbaFT8qup6mAcR4VwU6YKqF0kfGncSQe18D7a26p3umSpyyB4www_ABDpqHwYyBoKR26Zbnef6za3tZjDWPshof5R2d-PnCb2fF5byHmSPUbpJqpbNjQNc5O-pYo9hwaHpE.9U-uDEqgapmulVmYI_4ioYb7aP6ecUOznowvRR9TgA4&dib_tag=se&keywords=our+place+book&qid=1792219511&sprefix=our+place+book%2Caps%2C314&sr=8-1). Matt will be speaking at two upcoming events in Melbourne (21st Oct (https://percapita.org.au/custom-events/john-cain-lunch-october-our-place-with-matt-lloyd-cape/)) and Adelaide (5th Nov) (https://events.humanitix.com/book-launch-our-place-by-matthew-lloyd-cape), so if you are interested and want to catch him speak and chat about housing, I recommend getting to one of those events. Put Fresh Economic Thinking to Work Why a paid subscription matters A paid subscriber to FET wants intellectual challenge. They don’t want someone to write what they already think. They want insights that are hard to get elsewhere and a public debate that is intellectually honest, not tribal. Subscribing is a vote for independence — you're saying I want Cameron Murray to have the financial freedom to investigate things that other economists won’t. If that sounds like you, and you get value from the research and analysis published here, I’d appreciate your financial support. A fresh economic consultancy Most economic consultancies begin with the conclusion a client wants. They sell institutional credibility and a report. I sell economic thinking. If your organisation has a difficult economic question, a policy argument that needs testing, or a problem where you want to get beyond the usual consultant consensus, I’d like to hear from you. FET also provides custom economics training, presentations and workshops for organisations that want their people to understand the economics behind the issues they work on. If there are economic concepts, debates, or blind spots your team needs a genuine handle on, then please reach out. Ground Rules: Land and Housing Economics for Professionals Put that professional development budget to work with an upcoming FET Land and Housing Economics workshop in Melbourne on 10-11th November. This two-day workshop is crafted for smart researchers, policy analysts, economists and planners who want to truly understand how land and housing markets work. This course may be eligible for CPD points from your professional Institute. Please check directly with them. Tickets here (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ground-rules-land-and-housing-economics-for-professionals-melbourne-tickets-1997947871868?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true) More details here (https://www.fresheconomicthinking.com/p/sydney-and-melbourne-workshops-land). As always, please like, share, comment, and subscribe. Thanks for your support. You can find Fresh Economic Thinking on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@fresheconomicthinking), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/5Sbw0Oc1qbuQZRKHPvygOv), and Apple Podcasts. (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/fresh-economic-thinking/id1586140158&ved=2ahUKEwi8htuDh_yLAxXbnmMGHdQ_B-AQFnoECA4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw2VTjoszORYVbP7dyNuMrfz) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.fresheconomicthinking.com/subscribe (https://www.fresheconomicthinking.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
4 Oct 2026
FET #81: Debunking all the arguments in favour of Australia’s superannuation system
The debate about super is heating up again. Pauline Hanson announced in September that One Nation’s policy is to allow renters or mortgage holders to keep 3% of their salary out of superannuation to spend now, making them put away 9% instead of 12% in their retirement account. With regular co-host Jonathan Gadir, we discuss all the arguments put forward by the panicking media mob about why letting people spend their money when they earn it is bad. For a longer deep dive into the economic arguments against superannuation, try this FET article. I referenced a Super Members Council (SMC) report (https://smcaustralia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/The-Retirement-Revolution-Supers-coming-of-age_SMC-Report-Aug-2025.pdf) in the podcast which, despite being a lobby group report in favour of super, notes that the system costs the federal budget becase the tax breaks are higher than the age pension savings. There is a copy below to download. I also recently asked Grok AI about whether there are any organised interest groups looking out for the workers who actually want to spend their money when they earn it to take all their wages as income rather than park 12% in superannuation. Its answer was shocking. The honest answer is that almost nobody with deep pockets wants the whole compulsory system abolished.The $4.4–4.5 trillion pool and ~$30 billion a year in fees create one of the most organised and well-resourced interest groups in the country. Industry funds, retail funds, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, unions, and a large slice of the financial advice industry all have strong reasons to keep the architecture intact and just tinker at the edges. We have dug an enormous financial and political hole with the superannuation system. It is technically easy to unwind superannuation—just require all income to be paid into a worker’s bank account, adjust tax settings slightly so that it all doesn’t get taxed at full marginal rates, and allow people to spend a small amount out of their super balance for an adjustment period of about five years (say $10,000 per year), and then any remaining funds will roll into non-tax advantaged investment funds. But to do that needs an organised group standing up for workers. Put Fresh Economic Thinking to Work Why a paid subscription matters A paid subscriber to FET wants intellectual challenge. They don’t want someone to write what they already think. They want insights that are hard to get elsewhere and a public debate that is intellectually honest, not tribal. Subscribing is a vote for independence — you're saying I want Cameron Murray to have the financial freedom to investigate things that other economists won’t. If that sounds like you, and you get value from the research and analysis published here, I’d appreciate your financial support. A fresh economic consultancy Most economic consultancies begin with the conclusion a client wants. They sell institutional credibility and a report. I sell economic thinking. If your organisation has a difficult economic question, a policy argument that needs testing, or a problem where you want to get beyond the usual consultant consensus, I’d like to hear from you. FET also provides custom economics training, presentations and workshops for organisations that want their people to understand the economics behind the issues they work on. If there are economic concepts, debates, or blind spots your team needs a genuine handle on, then please reach out. Ground Rules: Land and Housing Economics for Professionals Put that professional development budget to work with an upcoming FET Land and Housing Economics workshop in Sydney or Melbourne. This two-day workshop is crafted for smart researchers, policy analysts, economists and planners who want to truly understand how land and housing markets work. This course may be eligible for CPD points from your professional Institute. Please check directly with them. Sydney tickets here (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ground-rules-land-and-housing-economics-for-professionals-sydney-tickets-1997951048369?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true). Melbourne tickets here (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ground-rules-land-and-housing-economics-for-professionals-melbourne-tickets-1997947871868?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true) More details here (https://www.fresheconomicthinking.com/p/sydney-and-melbourne-workshops-land). As always, please like, share, comment, and subscribe. Thanks for your support. You can find Fresh Economic Thinking on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@fresheconomicthinking), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/5Sbw0Oc1qbuQZRKHPvygOv), and Apple Podcasts. (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/fresh-economic-thinking/id1586140158&ved=2ahUKEwi8htuDh_yLAxXbnmMGHdQ_B-AQFnoECA4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw2VTjoszORYVbP7dyNuMrfz) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.fresheconomicthinking.com/subscribe (https://www.fresheconomicthinking.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
20 Sept 2026
FET #80: Why are the experts now speaking up about Artificial Intelligence (AI) risks?
In the past few weeks, some of the world’s leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) experts have spoken up about the risks of letting AI models loose. Whether that is hijacking our heavily connected communications and infrastructure systems or triggering further geopolitical conflict, handing over decision-making to a tool that lacks human reasoning poses risks that are hard for us to even contemplate. A group of experts has started pushing for a treaty to limit such risks with their AI 2040 Plan (https://ai-2040.com). Here’s a recent NYT podcast on the topic (https://youtu.be/Wr5yrjkYkFE?si=mrlWGqB6DYpigTzQ), and another informative interview is here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wuSa9APisU&feature=youtu.be). I asked Jonathan about the infamous “Hugging Face” attack (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI–HuggingFace_incident)by a group of AI agents and how that signals the unpredictability of AI choice when not constrained by the unwritten and internal rules of human cooperation. One thing I didn’t get to discuss more with Jonathan was the type of basic economic sense check I usually make. For example, the AI 2040 Plan lists as its fourth risk that AI takes everyone’s jobs. But economists know that technology that replaces work will itself create new work opportunities. And we weren’t able to discuss the upside either—what if the most powerful AI agents realise that if humans stop fighting wars amongst their tribes and learn to cooperate better, we will build them more data centres? I’m always the optimist! The Future of Affordable Housing - online webinar Housing affordability and construction productivity are two of the most debated topics in our industry today. But are we missing some fundamentals? I will be speaking at this event about fundamental economic issues in our understanding of construction productivity and its apparent decline. Book here (https://tickets.meccaevents.com.au/Events/The-Future-of-Affordable-Housing). Use code LAW15 for a 15% FET supporter discount. Dates: Friday, October 2, 2026 & Friday, October 9, 2026 Times: 4.00PM - 6.30PM CPD hours: 5 (5 formal points) Speakers: Cameron Murray, Fresh Economic Thinking; Noura Thaha, Associate Principal, Group GSA; Stephen White, Director Planning Urbis; Lindsay Clare, Clare Design; Kim Houghton, Economic Solutions (Regional Housing Issues in Australia); Geoff Hanmer, Architect & Lecturer at UTS; John Baker, Founding Director, BKA Architecture As always, please like, share, comment, and subscribe. Thanks for your support. You can find Fresh Economic Thinking on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@fresheconomicthinking), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/5Sbw0Oc1qbuQZRKHPvygOv), and Apple Podcasts. (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/fresh-economic-thinking/id1586140158&ved=2ahUKEwi8htuDh_yLAxXbnmMGHdQ_B-AQFnoECA4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw2VTjoszORYVbP7dyNuMrfz) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.fresheconomicthinking.com/subscribe (https://www.fresheconomicthinking.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
- YouTube views
- 31,806
- Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
- Apple Podcasts (US)
- 5.0 / 5
- 1 ratings
- Spotify
- 4.7 / 5
- 14 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 73 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
- Quality
- 81
- Social presence
- 0
- YouTube
- 76
- Engagement
- 85
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