About the author Nicholas Gruen is CEO of Lateral Economics. He's an economist, a consultant, a commentator and a former adviser to the federal government. Follow Nicholas Gruen
Pedantry is not its own reward: it’s certainly not ours! Friday December 6, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Editors' Picks Pedantry is alluring. Especially if one gets some aesthetic satisfaction from the way words are used. Read more
Market – what market? The catch 22 at the heart of innovation in government Tuesday July 23, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Features There is a huge catch 22 driving impact measurement in human services. A lot of the evaluation is done because governments seek it, but then… Read more
Accountability: from above and below Wednesday June 26, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Editors' Picks The buck stops with you and the problems start with you: Are you after accountability or accountability theatre?… Read more
Valuing the Australian Census Monday June 17, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Community & Social Statistical agencies worldwide have come under pressure from ministers to provide greater justification for the hundreds of millions of dollars of costs of a national… Read more
Lessons from the Hawke and Howard years of Australian governance Friday May 17, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Features In politics, you sign up to a struggle on behalf of those you claim to represent. You owe them everything you can manage to stitch… Read more
War on empathy; war on confidence; war on context Tuesday April 16, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Culture Evidence-based policy may be the flavour of the moment, but how does it account for the intrinsic human needs for empathy, confidence, and context?… Read more
Paul Krugman’s incredible invisibility trick Monday April 1, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Features Paul Krugman keeps reporting that economists ignored things that were kind of obvious. Well, that’s in hindsight. But everyone’s wise in hindsight. Read more
We know WHAT we need to do. Will someone tell us HOW? Thursday March 21, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Features When policy problems are complex, we need to understand and learn from the front line. Nicholas Gruen explains ways to improve the early, middle and… Read more
Was Adam Smith a feminist economist? Care—the essay Tuesday March 19, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Community & Social Our culture is awash with abstraction, universalism and instrumentalism, and as such is desperately in need of balancing with precisely the kind of thing that… Read more
What economic reform thinking might have looked like – if we’d bothered to do it Friday March 8, 2019 By Martin Wolf & Nicholas Gruen Economy & Industry This is a transcript, albeit a bit rough, of a discussion between famed UK economist and Financial Times journalist Martin Wolf and Australian economist and… Read more
When a conversation is not a conversation: party political discourse in the early 21st century Tuesday February 19, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Editors' Picks Democracy is not a product. It is, as Aristotle reminds us, a system in which everyone takes turn in governing and being governed. Read more
We’re awarding the Order of Australia to the wrong people Friday January 25, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Editors' Picks Many will get awarded on Australia Day for little more than doing their job. And the higher the job’s status, the higher the award. Read more
What is a ‘policy hack’? Wednesday January 23, 2019 By Nicholas Gruen Editors' Picks New ways of looking at our complex world can lead to policy hacks with clear and easily identifiable benefits. But do they stand apart from… Read more
Citizens’ chambers: towards an activism of selection by lot Wednesday December 5, 2018 By Nicholas Gruen Editors' Picks Sortition would address the yawning deliberative deficit and weaken many of the pathways by which polarisation, cronyism and party influence occurs, says Nicholas Gruen. In… Read more
Evaluation: moving beyond well-intentioned fads and towards a new professionalism Monday November 26, 2018 By Nicholas Gruen Editors' Picks An evaluator-general should lead a renewed focus on understanding the impact of government programs, independent of their delivery and insulated from the demand for appropriate… Read more
