This analysis proposes a political explanation for the breakdown of Keynesian full employment in Australia. It takes issue with the arguments of anti-Keynesian economists, and proposes that there was and is nothing inherently contradictory about Keynesian theory or much of its practice.

'A convincing and comprehensive account of the success and ultimate failure of Keynesianism in Australia ...Essential reading, not only for other doughty fighters but for skeptics and critics as well' - G.C. Harcourt This analysis proposes a political explanation for the breakdown of Keynesian full employment in Australia. It taps into the current literature that examines the role of economic interests, ideas, and institutions, and, by taking issue with the arguments of anti-Keynesian economists, the book carries the argument that there was and is nothing inherently contradictory about Keynesian theory or much of its practice. Keynesianism, its imperfections notwithstanding, was overturned because of a powerful alliance of interests and ideas.

Acknowledgements - Introduction - PART 1: HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL MATTERS - Keynesian Ideas, Keynesianism, and Keynesian Social Democracy - The Initial Embrace of Keynesianism in Australia - Australian Keynesianism in the 1950s and 1960s - PART 2: THE BREAKDOWN OF THE KEYNESIAN CONSENSUS, 1972-92 - The 1970s, and the Whitlam and Fraser Periods - The Hawke Years, and the End of Keynesian Beliefs - PART 3: KEYNESIANISM AND ITS CRITICS - The Political Economy of Wages, Inflation and Unemployment - Public Expenditure and the Growth of Welfare - PART 4: PROPOSING AN ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATION - The Place of Institutions - The Role of Interests and Ideas in Policy Change - Conclusion - Bibliography - Index