John Quiggin
Professor of economics, University of Queensland
John Quiggin is professor of economics at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. He is the author of Zombie Economics (2010), and his latest book is Economics in Two Lessons: Why Markets Work So Well, and Why They Can Fail So Badly (forthcoming, 2019).
Written by John Quiggin
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Ecology and environmental sciences
This world is enough
For the first time in history we could end poverty while protecting the global environment. But do we have the will?
John Quiggin
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Economics
What happiness conceals
For years, economists have laboured on the riddle of happiness. If they studied misery, they might get somewhere
John Quiggin
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Automation and robotics
The golden age
The 15-hour working week predicted by Keynes may soon be within our grasp – but are we ready for freedom from toil?
John Quiggin
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Information and communication
Doing more with less: the economic lesson of Peak Paper
John Quiggin
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Economic history
Opportunity costs: can carbon taxing become a positive-sum game?
John Quiggin
Given how little effect you can have, is it rational to vote?
John QuigginAs long as you care about the rest of society, it’s entirely rational to vote. Suppose you think (as I do) that Americans collectively would be much better off if Clinton had beaten Trump. In dollar terms, let’s say the benefit was more than $100 billion (about 2 per cent of US national income). If your chance of casting a decisive vote is 1 in 100 million (it’s actually higher, but this gets complicated), then the expected benefit from voting correctly is $1000. Your share of that is tiny, of course, but that’s true of lots of things (eg picking up litter).