Goodbye to 2024

Worse than 2023, but probably better than 2025

Hi everyone,

It’s been a miserable year for the world, and the prospects for 2025 don’t look much better. But all things must pass, and in the meantime, life goes on.

I’ve now finished my first year of semi-retirement, and am gradually winding down some of my academic projects. At the same time, the political disasters of 2024 have led me to try (not entirely successfully) to focus more on long-term issues rather than short-term politics.

I’m still producing a fair bit of material. For the year as a whole, four journal articles, two books and about 40 other publications, mostly newspaper and magazine articles.

In December, I took part in a discussion at the Chinese consulate, about prospects for Australia-China trade, and also presented at the annual Australian Basic Income Fellows Workshop. Slides are here

Looking forward to 2025, my comic book project, The Perils of Privatisation is also nearly finished. I’m planning to give physical copies to paid subscribers to my Substack blog, and to put a free ePub version online.

In a more traditional mode, I’m planning a big project arguing the case against trying to raise birth rates, which might culminate in another book.

That’s enough from me. I know 2025 is going to be difficult for lots of us, but I hope that we will find new sources for hope in the world as a whole and with our own families and friends.

Newspaper articles

More coal and gas, less renewables: what a nuclear power plan for Australia would really mean The Conversation, 16 December

If crypto is incorporated into Australia’s financial system, we will be lucky to avoid contagious collapse The Guardian 31 December

Media

My December media report is here (password quiggin). Thanks to Daniela Brinis-Norris for preparing this

Visit my Substack blog