The Economics Society of Australia is conducting a survey of the policy views of its membership, as well as other economists who are not members. By one account, 30% of the society’s members have responded to the survey, including this author.

The term ‘nanny state’ gets a bad rap. Those who believe the state should protect people from themselves fulminate about this pejorative label. ‘But don’t you understand?’ they say, ‘we are helping people; “nanny state” is used by people who don’t care about others.’

Financial markets here and abroad are again in a funk over a raft of disappointing economic indicators in the United States, Europe and Japan. Day-to-day market commentary isn’t our forte, but it is timely to recall some of the lessons of economic history. Nobody should really be surprised that economic growth in the developed northern hemisphere countries is sluggish in the aftermath of the world’s most severe financial crisis in decades. We should expect more of the same.