What do you think?
Rate this book
Reset: Restoring Australia after the Great Crash of 2020
From the bestselling author of Superpower, a ground-breaking sequel about Australia's best path out of recession.
In Reset, renowned economist Ross Garnaut shows how the COVID-19 crisis offers Australia the opportunity to reset its economy and build a successful future - and why the old approaches will not work.
Garnaut develops the idea of a renewable superpower, he calls for a basic income and he explores what the 'decoupling' of China and America will mean for Australia.
In the wake of COVID-19, the world has entered its deepest recession since the 1930s. Shocks of this magnitude throw history from its established course - either for good or evil. In 1942 - in the depths of war - the Australian government established a Department of Post-War Reconstruction to plan a future that not only restored existing strengths but also rebuilt the country for a new and better future. As we strive to overcome the coronavirus challenge, we need new, practical ideas to restore Australia. This book has them.
In Reset, renowned economist Ross Garnaut shows how the COVID-19 crisis offers Australia the opportunity to reset its economy and build a successful future - and why the old approaches will not work.
Garnaut develops the idea of a renewable superpower, he calls for a basic income and he explores what the 'decoupling' of China and America will mean for Australia.
In the wake of COVID-19, the world has entered its deepest recession since the 1930s. Shocks of this magnitude throw history from its established course - either for good or evil. In 1942 - in the depths of war - the Australian government established a Department of Post-War Reconstruction to plan a future that not only restored existing strengths but also rebuilt the country for a new and better future. As we strive to overcome the coronavirus challenge, we need new, practical ideas to restore Australia. This book has them.
256 pages, Paperback
Published February 22, 2021
32 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Ross Garnaut
65 books17 followersRoss Garnaut is Professorial Research Fellow in Economics at the University of Melbourne. In 2008, he produced the Garnaut Climate Change Review for the Australian government. He is the author of many books, including the bestselling Dog Days (2013).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 30, 2021
‘As I write, in the last quarter of 2020, the pandemic is under control in Australia …’
And, as I read this book in the second half of 2021, the pandemic is wreaking havoc: New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT are in lockdown and case numbers of the highly infectious delta strain of Covid-19 continue to spread. A steady increase in vaccination rates enables some optimism for the future as we learn to live with this virus.
But back to Ross Garnaut’s book. Mr Garnaut argues that the COVID-19 crisis offers Australia an opportunity to reset the economy and to build a successful future. He argues that we should be looking to reset our economy, to explore new opportunities rather than seek a return to the past. But how? Mr Garnaut suggests re-examining taxation, trade, both monetary and fiscal policy, education, and energy. Of these, energy is the largest. Following the election of Joe Biden as President of the USA, and with China also now pledging to net zero emissions by 2060, Australia needs to move beyond fossil fuel (both in domestic use, and as an export).
While I do not fully understand all the economics, what I do understand makes sense to me. The Department of Post-War Reconstruction which existed between December 1942 and March 1950, planning for the post-war future, would seem a useful model for the rebuilding required after both the recent natural catastrophes and the consequences of the current pandemic. But I would like to see evidence of more effective leadership and of long-term planning.
‘Humans dislike uncertainty. They want to think that their leaders know where the country is headed and the effects of their policies on the destination. Members of a society that are confident their leaders know where they are going and are satisfied this is a desirable destination will accept constraints in the public interest. Without such confidence, they will not cooperate, and it is not always possible for governments to force compliance.’
Mr Garnaut argues in support of a recovery based around full employment (of around or below 3.5%) and low inflation. We need to rebuild, and we have an opportunity.
I agree with this statement:
‘The emergence of the internet as the main provider of information about domestic and international events has had a negative effect on the quality of knowledge available to most people.’
I hope that the Australian government considers what Mr Garnaut has written. Much of it makes sense.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
And, as I read this book in the second half of 2021, the pandemic is wreaking havoc: New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT are in lockdown and case numbers of the highly infectious delta strain of Covid-19 continue to spread. A steady increase in vaccination rates enables some optimism for the future as we learn to live with this virus.
But back to Ross Garnaut’s book. Mr Garnaut argues that the COVID-19 crisis offers Australia an opportunity to reset the economy and to build a successful future. He argues that we should be looking to reset our economy, to explore new opportunities rather than seek a return to the past. But how? Mr Garnaut suggests re-examining taxation, trade, both monetary and fiscal policy, education, and energy. Of these, energy is the largest. Following the election of Joe Biden as President of the USA, and with China also now pledging to net zero emissions by 2060, Australia needs to move beyond fossil fuel (both in domestic use, and as an export).
While I do not fully understand all the economics, what I do understand makes sense to me. The Department of Post-War Reconstruction which existed between December 1942 and March 1950, planning for the post-war future, would seem a useful model for the rebuilding required after both the recent natural catastrophes and the consequences of the current pandemic. But I would like to see evidence of more effective leadership and of long-term planning.
‘Humans dislike uncertainty. They want to think that their leaders know where the country is headed and the effects of their policies on the destination. Members of a society that are confident their leaders know where they are going and are satisfied this is a desirable destination will accept constraints in the public interest. Without such confidence, they will not cooperate, and it is not always possible for governments to force compliance.’
Mr Garnaut argues in support of a recovery based around full employment (of around or below 3.5%) and low inflation. We need to rebuild, and we have an opportunity.
I agree with this statement:
‘The emergence of the internet as the main provider of information about domestic and international events has had a negative effect on the quality of knowledge available to most people.’
I hope that the Australian government considers what Mr Garnaut has written. Much of it makes sense.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
March 3, 2021
An interesting book by Ross Garnaut following historical Australian economic challenges and the role the sharing of economic knowledge has played in recovering from them, and in broader Australian political history, reaching back to the Tree of Knowledge at Barcaldine and the later Premier's Plan.
Garnaut argues in favour of a recovery based around full employment (somewhere around or below 3.5%) and low inflation. Migration would be kept to 0.5% of national population per annum. He is wary of the threat to democracy and universities played by the disillusionment of the working public through prolonged periods of high unemployment and wage stagnation accompanied by high inflation, leading to diverging outcomes between labourers and possessors of capital.
In the US and UK this divergence followed a 30 year decline and stagnation in wages and led to the election of Trump and Johnson respectively. In Australian such populism is a threat but has not yet come to pass due to a lower 10 year period of stagnation and the role educated medical professionals and economists played in the COVID-19 pandemic defence efforts.
Garnaut follows on from his earlier work, Superpower, in arguing for a pivot to export of refined metals and energy intensive smelting products into the international zero carbon system, backed by green steel and aluminium, a result of the use of wind and solar power, and the use of carbon storage in biomass and storage in geological structures (former mines and oil fields).
In this regard he views the States of SA (Tesla super battery and opportunities for wind and solar) and NSW (Treasurer focused on becoming a clean enerrgy superpower) as having the greatest leadership on the issue. Federal Government spending has been well behind comparative spending on green initiatives in the US, South Korea, China and Japan, natural export markets for our green metals.
He flags the potential for export of green energy directly via a supercable from NT to the markets of SEA and Japan (likely to PNG or Singapore).
Garnaut notes that China is the largest importer of Australian coal, steel and wool. He predicts a decline in fossil fuel exports and a loss of prestige in university rankings due to comparative underinvestment vs China and US in the sector. This would subsequently lead to a decline in education exports, the third largest in the world, and well above our weight.
He suggests although the issue of a price on carbon in Australia has become politically toxic, Australia would gain greatly from access to accredited carbon trading markets due to the large potential for storage of carbon in land, via use of saltbush, Mitchell grasses, decline in bovine methane emissions due to native seaweed and char use, etc.
Overall an interesting and persuasive book touching on many areas of global and Australian political and economic history, particularly the influence of Kenyes.
Garnaut argues in favour of a recovery based around full employment (somewhere around or below 3.5%) and low inflation. Migration would be kept to 0.5% of national population per annum. He is wary of the threat to democracy and universities played by the disillusionment of the working public through prolonged periods of high unemployment and wage stagnation accompanied by high inflation, leading to diverging outcomes between labourers and possessors of capital.
In the US and UK this divergence followed a 30 year decline and stagnation in wages and led to the election of Trump and Johnson respectively. In Australian such populism is a threat but has not yet come to pass due to a lower 10 year period of stagnation and the role educated medical professionals and economists played in the COVID-19 pandemic defence efforts.
Garnaut follows on from his earlier work, Superpower, in arguing for a pivot to export of refined metals and energy intensive smelting products into the international zero carbon system, backed by green steel and aluminium, a result of the use of wind and solar power, and the use of carbon storage in biomass and storage in geological structures (former mines and oil fields).
In this regard he views the States of SA (Tesla super battery and opportunities for wind and solar) and NSW (Treasurer focused on becoming a clean enerrgy superpower) as having the greatest leadership on the issue. Federal Government spending has been well behind comparative spending on green initiatives in the US, South Korea, China and Japan, natural export markets for our green metals.
He flags the potential for export of green energy directly via a supercable from NT to the markets of SEA and Japan (likely to PNG or Singapore).
Garnaut notes that China is the largest importer of Australian coal, steel and wool. He predicts a decline in fossil fuel exports and a loss of prestige in university rankings due to comparative underinvestment vs China and US in the sector. This would subsequently lead to a decline in education exports, the third largest in the world, and well above our weight.
He suggests although the issue of a price on carbon in Australia has become politically toxic, Australia would gain greatly from access to accredited carbon trading markets due to the large potential for storage of carbon in land, via use of saltbush, Mitchell grasses, decline in bovine methane emissions due to native seaweed and char use, etc.
Overall an interesting and persuasive book touching on many areas of global and Australian political and economic history, particularly the influence of Kenyes.
May 31, 2021
Most of the economics flew over my head. I don't really understand what a corporate tax on cash flows means compared to conventional corporate taxation. Otherwise, seems exciting to dream.
August 30, 2021
Reset is a very compelling and thoroughly researched and written book by Garnaut. It follows his 2020 Superpower talking about the new economy that Australia can gain in the decarbonisation process. Garnaut continues with his thorough economic analysis and policy advice in Reset, talking about the lessons of the pandemic and more advice about where our economy should go. Both books cover similar ground in talking about e.g. the merits of renewable energy and agriculture for the economy and decarbonisation. There are new ideas that I also really liked, such as the Australian Income Security (AIS), his version of Universal Basic Income. The book takes care to explain any economic terms or ideas along the way, so people understand broadly the ideas with a careful read (even without an economics background). It did help me that I had done some basic economics in high school, though I also appreciated being challenged and learning some new ideas about economic theory. This book is a very important contribution to the discussion about where our economy goes and how we deal with the impact of the pandemic (though we had economic issues before then, he takes care to emphasise).
April 4, 2021
This is the third of Ross Garnaut’s books I’ve read and, once again, he lays out an eminently sensible prescription for economic reform - this one more of necessity than choice. But he’ll still be ignored.
That’s not a reflection of his ideas, but of the stinking morass that is Australian politics, where both major parties are empty shells taken over by careerists and student politicians and one-issue ideologues.
Garnaut is arguing that the pandemic is an opportunity for Australia to reset across a range of fronts - taxation, trade, monetary policy, fiscal policy, energy, education. The biggest one is energy. Throughout the book he points out that with Biden’s election and now with China pledging itself to net zero emissions by 2060, Australia stands alone in the world as a nation still utterly hostage to the short-term destructive cynics of the fossil fuel industry. Unless, we start to price carbon (although Garnaut is much more diplomatic than this) we’re toast.
The green energy recommendations here I was familiar with from his last book, but I was struck most here by his ideas for taxation, particularly a cash flow tax instead of the race-to-the-bottom corporate tax cuts that the Business Council of Australia has been droning on about for 30 years, and a universal basic income.
That’s not a reflection of his ideas, but of the stinking morass that is Australian politics, where both major parties are empty shells taken over by careerists and student politicians and one-issue ideologues.
Garnaut is arguing that the pandemic is an opportunity for Australia to reset across a range of fronts - taxation, trade, monetary policy, fiscal policy, energy, education. The biggest one is energy. Throughout the book he points out that with Biden’s election and now with China pledging itself to net zero emissions by 2060, Australia stands alone in the world as a nation still utterly hostage to the short-term destructive cynics of the fossil fuel industry. Unless, we start to price carbon (although Garnaut is much more diplomatic than this) we’re toast.
The green energy recommendations here I was familiar with from his last book, but I was struck most here by his ideas for taxation, particularly a cash flow tax instead of the race-to-the-bottom corporate tax cuts that the Business Council of Australia has been droning on about for 30 years, and a universal basic income.
July 3, 2024
The book is based on two fundamental premises that two turn out to be fundamentally untrue. Garnaut repeatedly suggests that we would not reach full employment until 2025. This prediction has turned out to be so of the mark. Secondly, he predicts that immigration will “remain low for at least several years, independent of policy choice” (page 116). Immigration has nonetheless been the largest in decades. Nonetheless, the book must be still be considered and has worth for the policy suggestions.
The book starts of rather unnecessarily discussing the COVID-19 responses of countries. It seems necessary as the idea of the book was conceptualised before COVID. Further it does not seem to serve much of a substantial purpose as to the thesis of the book.
After that, the book builds on each other in a rather structured and logical way. Each chapter builds upon the previous chapter, creating a compelling thesis and analysis of the Australian economy and where it goes forward.
The metaphor about economic reform being a century with singles, doubles, fours and sixes. It goes into Jim Chalmers notion of the populus acceptance of "you need to do big things slowly and little things quickly"
The discussion on immigration is spot on. The immigration system is structured so that low income earners are most disadvantaged.
The book starts of rather unnecessarily discussing the COVID-19 responses of countries. It seems necessary as the idea of the book was conceptualised before COVID. Further it does not seem to serve much of a substantial purpose as to the thesis of the book.
After that, the book builds on each other in a rather structured and logical way. Each chapter builds upon the previous chapter, creating a compelling thesis and analysis of the Australian economy and where it goes forward.
The metaphor about economic reform being a century with singles, doubles, fours and sixes. It goes into Jim Chalmers notion of the populus acceptance of "you need to do big things slowly and little things quickly"
The discussion on immigration is spot on. The immigration system is structured so that low income earners are most disadvantaged.
June 17, 2021
A no bs guide to a post-pandemic response in Australia. I will confess myself as a Garnaut fan girl. If only Ross still had the ear of the PM. At times the economics of it was a bit complicated for me, but I got the gist. I mainly was interested in the net-zero energy alternatives and opportunities for carbon sequestration which are fascinating. From Garnaut’s eyes these changes are not only achievable but they would create a huge boost in employment, exports and standard of living. No brainer eh? Too bad our government are the clowns of the Paris agreement. There is still no unified federal net-zero target, the onus has been left to the states, get outta here you absolute rascals.
July 8, 2021
Key insights
1) Australia’s abundance in renewable energy which can provide the basis of zero emissions manufacturing and international competitive advantage.
2) opportunities for Australia to be a new exporter of carbon credits
3) shifting corporate taxation to a tax on economic rents and having a two sided tax system.
4) 70% of Australia’s two way trade will be with countries who have committed to net zero emissions by mid century. This has big implications on our ability to trade with them. This is especially true if our economy is not transitioning now to a low emissions future.
1) Australia’s abundance in renewable energy which can provide the basis of zero emissions manufacturing and international competitive advantage.
2) opportunities for Australia to be a new exporter of carbon credits
3) shifting corporate taxation to a tax on economic rents and having a two sided tax system.
4) 70% of Australia’s two way trade will be with countries who have committed to net zero emissions by mid century. This has big implications on our ability to trade with them. This is especially true if our economy is not transitioning now to a low emissions future.
August 18, 2021
I confess to not reading this important book from start to finish and the 3 stars is because of that and not because of the compelling content and persuasive argument Prof Garnaut is making about future possibilities. His elegant prose is a delight to read, however, I do not have the economic sophistication required to follow some of his argument adequately. Suffice to say that Australian policy-makers and their advisers should all read this book and give proper consideration to its proposals.
May 1, 2022
Ross GArnaut's insight into the economic benefits of changes are good demonstrations of logic and sound economic thinking , unfortunatly tainted by his clear bias toward left , labour philosphies.
Despite these obvious shortcomings, his comentary around the need to move to a low carbon economy has merit; ensuring that Australia doesnt create its own trade barriers though ill informed philosophical decisions.
Definitely worth a read.
Despite these obvious shortcomings, his comentary around the need to move to a low carbon economy has merit; ensuring that Australia doesnt create its own trade barriers though ill informed philosophical decisions.
Definitely worth a read.
May 22, 2021
I really enjoyed the author's other books - Superpower and Dog Days but I couldn't get into this book. I struggled to understand his arguments. I suspect it's a good book but I didn't take it in because I was distracted/not in the right frame of mind at the time. Might try reading it again another time.
December 30, 2021
I'm very excited about getting all this done. Wasn't super excited by the book, some chapters I was much more interested in than others. It's good that it seems to be influencing policy - even with the Liberals.
I do want to live in a world with a UBI or Jobs Guarantee, can we make that happen please?
I do want to live in a world with a UBI or Jobs Guarantee, can we make that happen please?
Read
November 2, 2024Garnaut offers more thought on how Australia should transition its economy for the future in a less emissions intensive world, and he makes the point that Australia is in a better position than most countries to do so.
April 9, 2021
As dry as sawdust. And as inspiring.
June 6, 2021
Excellent, ALP should use it as a policy platform for next election, unfortunately the brilliant ideas are anathema to the LNP
July 23, 2021
Great ideas from a common sense economist with a view to the future. Refreshing reading!
March 5, 2021
Fundamental disagreement with the proposed policies aside, I cannot come up with a reason to give this book a better rating. It is wholly one-sided and devoid of any real acknowledgement of the potential downsides or alternative outcomes of the proposed policies and the existence of opposing points of view on questions of fiscal, monetary, economic, and social policy. The economic analysis is superficial and often arguably inaccurate, though at times cleverly crafted to support a particular side of the argument.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews