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Jeff Wilson, ‘A period of radical change and bravery on behalf of Australia’ Analysing today’s dilemmas through the lens of the Menzies Era

It is no secret that Australia currently faces a troubled geopolitical environment, indeed one of the most difficult that we have faced in recent memory. In these novel circumstances it is worthwhile looking back on past periods of disturbance to draw lessons for the present. While people tend to be quick to jump to comparisons to the 1930s and its catastrophic descent towards global conflict, there are significant and perhaps more profitable parallels to be drawn between the 1950s and now, particularly when it comes to a shake-up in global trade and the international economic order.

In this week’s episode of the Afternoon Light podcast, Robert Menzies Institute CEO Georgina Downer talks to Jeff Wilson from the Australian Industry Group about how the Menzies era can help us not just to safely navigate the present but to seize its important opportunities.

Dr Jeffrey Wilson is the Australian Industry Group’s Director of Research and Economics. He leads the Ai Group’s economics team, and provides strategic direction in developing the research program to support its advocacy. Jeffrey specialises in international economic policy, with a focus on how trade and investment shape the Australian industrial and business environment. He was previously Research Director at the Perth USAsia Centre, and an Associate Professor in International Political Economy at the School of Business and Governance at Murdoch University.