Connor Court's Top Ten for 2009

Number 1 - Ian Plimer's Heaven and Earth (6 print-runs, 40,000 copies in Australia alone). Editions also published in New Zealand, United States, the United Kingdom and Spain. Language editions coming out in Arabic, Chinese, Spanish and Korean.
Number 2 - The Climate Caper by Garth Paltridge (3 print runs)
Number 3 - After the Heart of God by Bishop Julian Porteous.
Number 4 - The Little Black School Book, Volume 2 by Mark Lopez
Number 5 - The Gift of Confession (abridged version) by Fr Michael de Stoop
Number 6 - The Little Black School Book, Volume 1 by Mark Lopez
Number 7 - Australia's Education Revolution by Kevin Donnelly
Number 8 - Women of Hope by Linda Baraciolli
Number 9 - Theology of the Body Made Simple by Fr Tony Percy
Number 10 - Hot Tips for Cool Parents by Catherine Warnock

Kevin Donnelly to speak at a dinner in Melbourne

DINNER WITH KEVIN DONNELLY (AUTHOR OF AUSTRALIA’S EDUCATION REVOLUTION)
who will speak on
"HOW KEVIN RUDD WON AND LOST THE EDUCATION WARS"
- 2 course traditional Irish dinner with tea and coffee. (Drinks available at bar prices.)
First Floor, The Celtic Club, 316-320 Queen Street, Melbourne.
Wednesday January 27, 6pm
Cost- $44 per person ($80 for a couple)

Dr Kevin Donnelly is Director of Education Standards Institute (ESI) and one of Australia’s leading education commentators and authors. Kevin taught for 18 years in secondary schools, writes regularly for Australia’s print media, including The Australian and The Courier Mail, and appears on radio and TV.

Kevin Donnelly’s book is available for sale at the Dinner.

Call (03) 90059167 for a booking or email - bookings@connorcourt.com

Jim Carlton on Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis

Speech for the launch of Richard Morgan’s book
‘Lessons From the Global Financial Crisis. The relevance of Adam Smith on morality and free markets’ by Jim Carlton.
In the early 1990s Dr. (now Professor) Michael Pusey wrote a book entitled ‘Economic Rationalism in Canberra’, which, according to Professor Pusey’s website, “showed how Canberra had been taken over by ‘economic rationalists,’ and warned of the economic and social costs of free market economic reform.” Around the same time, Robert Manne, the then editor of Quadrant, mounted a series of attacks on the economic reforms initiated by the Hawke and Keating Governments, and passed through the parliament with the support of the Coalition parties.
Although I was in opposition at the time, I am pleased to be associated with the support of those reforms, which had been promoted by the so called “Dries” during the period of the Fraser Government, but received little support both from the then government or from the then Labor opposition, as the ruling groups of both sides of politics were committed to the “Australian Settlement”, the combination of industrial protection and centralized wage fixation that guided public policy from the time of Deakin to its dismantling, initially by Hawke and Keating, and continued by the Howard Government.
It is amazing that an economic framework based on fundamentally flawed principles, although put forward with the best of intentions, should have lasted for some 80 years. In a classical example of judicial activism, Justice Henry Bourne Higgins of the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Court, in 1907, decided that the law should determine “a fair and reasonable wage”, sufficient to support workers as “civilized beings” in a standard of living appropriate to a “civilized community”. Where the money was to come from was of no concern to His Honour, described by P. G. McCarthy as a person with “courtly manners and a scholarly mind with ultra radicalism, almost priggish high principles and quixotic independence – he had a deep compassion for the under privileged”.
Those of us who share his deep compassion for the underprivileged have a duty to be concerned about the practical means of doing something about it. It is interesting to speculate on whether, if Higgins had emigrated to India rather than Australia, working class Indians would all be enjoying a “fair and reasonable wage”.
Moving on from Dr. Pusey and Justice Higgins, we turn to a more recent essayist, who, referring to the Global Financial Crisis, stated that “The current crisis is the culmination of a 30-year domination of economic policy by a free market ideology that has been variously called neo-liberalism, economic liberalism, economic fundamentalism, Thatcherism or the Washington Consensus”. This essayist goes on to say, “The time has come, off the back of this economic crisis, to proclaim that the great neo-liberal experiment of the past 30 years has failed, that the emperor has no clothes.”
Professor Pusey must surely be dismayed that his ground breaking characterization of these policies as “economic rationalism” has been replaced by the new epithet of “neo-liberalism”. However, just as it is difficult to determine how Justice Higgins’s fair and reasonable wage can be conjured up without determining how it will be provided, it is difficult to reconcile these observations on the depredations of neo-liberalism with the extraordinary economic successes in Australia over the last quarter century, during which time we have seen Australia avoid three international economic recessions, enjoy a significant improvement in real wages, and generate the means to provide a social security system that has seen the least well-off of our citizens improve their relative financial position.
Now what, you will ask, has all this to do with Richard Morgan’s book, entitled “Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis. The relevance of Adam Smith on morality and free markets”? In summary I can say this book is the most effective antidote I have seen in a long time to the inanity being peddled by those with a deep mistrust of the marketplace, usually coupled with a naïve confidence in the capacity of governments to produce results in areas outside their sphere of competence.
Paul Kelly in his recent book of nearly 700 pages also provides an antidote, and I certainly recommend it, but Richard Morgan in a mere one hundred pages of larger type and wider spacing gives you all the evidence you need to see through the tendentious arguments, the straw man constructions of the anti-market brigade.
The usual form of attack is to define free markets as laissez faire, anything goes forms of economic activity. As anyone who actually bothers to familiarize themselves with what Adam Smith actually said, and as Richard Morgan demonstrates, on no account does Smith advocate laissez faire. To quote Richard Morgan on page 47, “For Smith, a ‘well governed’ society provides for free competitive markets, law and order and infrastructure. If these elements are not in place, he warns, living standards will decline and indeed in extreme cases ‘go backwards.’
The use of the phrase “free competitive markets” is instructive. When we use the shorthand “free markets” we do leave ourselves open to willful or ignorant misinterpretation. Markets are not, in fact free, in the sense we mean it, if they are not regulated to ensure competition. Enemies of the market economy also seize on the word “deregulation” to suggest a descent into laissez faire. During the monumental fight we had in the 1980s in favour of deregulation, what we were fighting for was not the absence of regulation, but the removal of regulation that favoured special interests, characteristic of the rent-seeking paradise of the Australian Settlement. Similarly we need to examine closely any proposals to deal with climate change to gauge their propensity to encourage rent-seeking.
Another aspect of the Morgan book that appeals to me is that he has drawn from both Smith’s great works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and Wealth of Nations, to stress the underlying morality, and dare I say it, the deep compassion for the underprivileged, inherent in Smith’s writings. Unlike Justice Higgins, however, Smith has worked out how to improve the lot of the underprivileged. I refer you to page 21 of the Morgan book, the chapter headed “How Living Standards Are Improved”.
It is worth noting here that the Freiburg School of Economics, led by Walter Eucken, used the term “Social Market Economy” to embody both the economic and moral concepts put forward by Smith. They termed their approach “Ordo-liberalism”, and it formed the basis of the so called “German Miracle” overseen by Ludwig Erhard, Economics Minister in the Adenauer government.
I am indebted to Professor Wolfgang Kasper for drawing my attention to the work of the Freiburg School many years ago, and it was highly influential in the thinking of the Liberal ‘Dries’ in the late seventies and early eighties.
In his truly wonderful book entitled “Prosperity Through Competition”, Erhard describes exactly how he applied the Smithian principles as refined by Eucken and the Ordoliberals to effect the economic recovery and remarkable success of the German post war economy. In his preface to the English edition of 1958 he insists that this success was not due to a “secret science”, but an attempt “to apply in practice the principles of modern national economics…. with a view to overcoming the age-old antithesis of an unbridled liberalism and a soulless State control, to finding a sound middle way between out-and-out freedom and totalitarianism”.
Erhard’s book is replete with his battles against special interest groups both in business and in the trade unions seeking preference against the interests of the consumer. It was heartening to read of the success of his efforts from the immediate post war period up to his departure as Chancellor in 1966, many years before we in Australia reached an age of enlightenment in the eighties. In his book Erhard expresses his concerns about the future of Europe as it moved to integration. Would it move in the direction of the social market economy, or would special interests play too large a part, thus obstructing the freedom and prosperity he had proved was possible? Sadly, the picture is rather dismal, with European collectivism contrasting, for example, with post-Thatcher Britain.
So let’s return to Richard Morgan’s book. It is without doubt a work of meticulous scholarship, distilling the essence of two massive works into a lucid, concise and readable handbook, an indispensible guide to Adam Smith’s timeless exposition of the underlying utility and morality of the competitive market economy. Not only does it summarize Smith’s arguments, but also provides quotations directly supporting the summaries. I was also impressed by the ingenious diagram illustrating the nature and causes of the wealth of nations.
I would like to congratulate Richard Morgan on the outcome of his labours, and also express my gratitude to Anthony Cappello of Connor Court Publishing for making it available to the public. It is a privilege to have taken part in its launch.

New Book on the Global Financial Crisis....

LESSONS FROM THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS: THE RELEVANCE OF ADAM SMITH ON MORALITY AND FREE MARKETS by Richard M. Morgan

Paperback, 105 pages, isbn 9781921421303

Retail Price $19.95

With a Preface from Ian M. McDonald, University of Melbourne.

Adam Smith was an advocate of the free market, however his first work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, was on ethics and was widely acclaimed at the time. Commentators have tended to review this work as separate to his work on political economy. However the global financial crisis has shown the relevance of morality and the free market. Whilst The Wealth of Nations is concerned with political economy, Smith’s pointed attacks on exploitation and greed reflect the ethics outlined in his
first work.

Smith’s critics ignore the constructive role he proposed for government, which included ensuring the provision of education and protection of society by regulating the banking system. He stressed however that government regulations be kept to
a minimum.

Since The Wealth of Nations, the per capita income in the UK has risen 16 times and the most successful countries have been those pursuing free market policies. Adam Smith’s work is extremely relevant to understanding the global financial crisis and to setting appropriate policies for the future.

“A timely and very readable monograph that reminds us of what Adam Smith really said about free markets.”
– Professor R. R. Officer

“Lucid, concise, yet comprehensive - an indispensable guide to Adam Smith’s timeless exposition of the underlying morality of the competitive market economy.”
– Hon Jim Carlton AO

“In light of the 2008 financial crisis, this book reminds us of how relevant Smith’s thought remains as a pathway to the future that avoids the errors of the recent past.”
– Samuel Gregg, Director of Research, Acton Institute

“In this important and elegant work Richard Morgan explains the continuing relevance of Adam Smith and why it was governments, not Smith, that caused the global financial crisis.”
– John Roskam, Director of the Institute of Public Affairs

“Adam Smith’s insights are just as relevant today and this book is an excellent review of his works. It is easy to read and is enlightening.”
– John Dahlsen, Company Director

Richard Morgan is Chairman of BPC Holdings Pty Limited, a private company with interests in Australian agri-business and venture capital. He had a career in industry and was most recently General Manager of the Fertilizer Division of WMC Limited, Deputy Chairman of WMC Fertilizer Limited and Chairman of Hi Fert Pty Limited.

He has served as a Director and Treasurer of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He was a Council Member and National Treasurer of the Australian Institute of Agriculture Science and Technology and was made a Fellow of the Institute for his contribution to the Australian Fertilizer Industry. He served as Council Member of Geelong Grammar School and the Australia Institute of International Affairs Victorian Branch. He has also been past National Chairman of the Australian Red Cross Society and a member of The Australian Red Cross Blood Service Board. He has degrees in Agricultural Science and Commerce and has been a tutor of Economics at The Faculty of Economics and Commerce, The University of Melbourne.

Kevin Donnelly's new book launched by Malcolm Turnbull

Kevin Donnelly's new book Australia’s Education Revolution: How Kevin Rudd won and lost the education wars is getting plenty of press. Last night on Lateline Kevin Donnelly's launch was featured (although brief).

An opinion piece appeared in The Age yesterday, click here to read the article.

And of course, last Friday, the book was launched by Malcolm Turnbull at the Malvern Library. I was tempted to hand him a copy of our other publication, Heaven and Earth.

Kevin Donnelly's new book Australia’s Education Revolution also has its own facebook group.


- Anthony Cappello

Fr James Murray, RIP.

(Taken from Cath News)

James Stirling Murray, Anglican priest, teacher and a religious editor for The Australian, died yesterday in Sydney. He was 82.

Born in Ireland in 1927, his father a Scots engineer and his mother a talented singer, Fr Murray grew up in Melbourne, attended Scotch College, and Trinity College at the University of Melbourne, The Australian reported.

The newspaper said he showed a talent for pranks that would never desert him.

As a priest Father Murray served the tough working class suburb of Broadmeadows and did a stretch as chaplain in Pentridge Prison. In politics, he leant to the Left.

He defended what he saw as the integrity of Anglican tradition and opposed women priests. He was ecumenical in spirit, on friendly terms with Islam, Judaism, Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. At Christ Church St Laurence, in Sydney, he was famous for his eloquent, sometimes explosive, sermons.

The report outlines anecdotes from his life, as one who did kindnesses on the quiet and could give "as good as he got."

If correspondence displeased him, he would send it back with the endorsement: "Your letter is unacceptable to me". In the basilicas of Rome he would boost his modest stature by standing on a pew and bellow, "Silencio!" at flocks of chattering, camera snapping tourists.

Fr Murray's books include The Mask of Time, an Indonesian travelogue; Larrikins: 19th Century Outrage; Would You Believe? Dialogues on Faith and Doubt; The Paradise Tree: An Eccentric Childhood Remembered; and The Judas Tree: Reflections on a Turbulent Young Life, published in April this year.
Read from the Australian.

Christopher Pearson writes about the Climate Caper in the Australian

Global warming hotheads freeze out science's sceptics

Christopher Pearson | September 12, 2009
Article from: The Australian

GARTH Paltridge was a chief research scientist with the CSIRO's division of atmospheric research before becoming the director of the Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies and chief executive of the Antarctic Co-operative Research Centre.

His latest sceptical contribution to the debate on the dangers of carbon dioxide is a book, endearingly titled The Climate Caper.

Paltridge gives a crisp summary of the physics and economics of climate change, but I want to focus here on his account of the new green religion. "Perhaps the most interesting question in all this business is how it can be that the scientific community has become so over-the-top in support of its own propaganda about the seriousness and certainty of upcoming drastic climate change. Scientists after all are supposed to be unbiased in their assessment of a problem and are expected to tell it as it is. Over the centuries they have built up the capital of their reputation on just that supposition. And for the last couple of decades they have put that capital very publicly on the line in support of a cause which, to say the least, is overhung by an enormous amount of doubt. So how is it that the rest of the scientific community, uncomfortable as it is with both the science of global warming and the way its politics is being played, continues to let the reputation of science in general be put at considerable risk because of the way the dangers of climate change are being vastly oversold?"

Part of the answer lies in the way institutions find ways to silence their employees. Paltridge himself was involved in setting up the Antarctic research centre in the early 90s with the CSIRO. As he recalls: "I made the error at the time of mentioning in a media interview -- reported extensively in The Australian on a slow Easter Sunday -- that there were still lots of doubts about the disaster potential of global warming. Suffice it to say that within a couple of days it was made clear to me from the highest levels of CSIRO that, should I make such public comments again, then it would pull out of the process of forming the new centre." The CSIRO, it turned out, was in the process of trying to extract many millions of dollars for further climate research at the time.

Almost the only scientists at liberty to speak their minds are retirees, such as William Kininmonth and Paltridge himself. He gives an example, Brian Tucker, a former chief of CSIRO's Atmospheric Research Division. Tucker was "a specialist in numerical climate modelling and therefore knew better than most where the bodies are buried in the climate change game. He kept remarkably quiet about his worries on the matter. Then he retired, and for four or five years thereafter was the bane of the global warming establishment because of his very public stance against many of its sacred cows." Eventually he was marginalised by being described as "one of the usual suspects, who was now out of date and in any event was probably on the payroll of industry".

Another eye-opener is the story of how a committee of the Australian Academy of Science was dissuaded from its plans to respond to the Garnaut Report. Paltridge says: "While the committee was aware of all the 'ifs' and 'buts' of 100-year prediction of rainfall, it was aware too of the delicacy of saying so in an Academy response. But if indeed there is something of the order of a 50-50 chance that the forecasts supplied to Garnaut were nonsense, then it seems reasonable that the fact should be made known in plain English ..." Academy members met Garnaut and "rumour has it that sometime during the meeting Professor Garnaut became very sympathetic to the need for vast new resources to address the need for basic research ... In the end it seems that the idea of a response to the Garnaut Report was dropped altogether."

Eventually the academy came out with a statement of priorities for climate research, which contained a brief reference to the fact that the rainfall projections Garnaut relied on were problematical, but most of the public were none the wiser.

Paltridge says that behind the climate change debate there are two basic truths seldom articulated. "The first is that the scientists pushing the seriousness of global warming are perfectly well aware of the great uncertainty attached to their cause. The difficulty for them is to ensure that the lip service paid to uncertainty is enough to convince governments of the need to continue research funding, but is not enough to cast real doubt on the case for action. The paths of public comment and official advice on the matter have to be trodden very carefully. The second basic truth is that there is a belief among scientific 'global warmers' that they are an under-funded minority among a sea of wicked sceptics who are extensively funded by industry and close to Satan. The difficulty for them is to maintain a belief in their own minority status while insisting in public that the sceptics, at least among the ranks of the scientifically literate, are very few."

The Royal Society did its own reputation a disservice by sending a letter to Exxon-Mobil oil corporation declaring an anathema on dissident climate research. It said: "To be still producing information that misleads people about climate change is unhelpful. The next IPCC report should give the people the final push they need to take action and we can't have people trying to undermine it."

Paltridge says: "The staggering thing is that the society, which in other circumstances would be the first to defend the cause of free inquiry ... seemed not to be able to hear what it was saying."

He takes a gloomy view of the likelihood that the political class will soon come to its senses. "One suspects that a fair amount of the shrillness of the climate message derives from a fear that something will happen to prick the scientific balloon so carefully inflated and overstretched over the last few decades. But the IPCC doesn't really need to worry. The difficulty for the sceptics is that credible argument against accepted wisdom requires, as did the development of the accepted wisdom itself, large-scale resources which can only be supplied by the research institutions. Without those resources, the sceptic is only an amateur who can quite easily be confined to outer darkness."

In the last chapter, Paltridge lists some hidden agendas. "There are those who, like president (Jacques) Chirac of France, look with favour on the possibility of an international de-carbonisation regime because it would be the first step towards global government. There are those who, like the socialists before them, see international action as a means to force a redistribution of wealth both within and between individual nations. There are those who, like the powerbrokers of the European Union, look upon such action as a basis for legitimacy. There are those who, like bureaucrats the world over, regard the whole business mainly as a path to the sort of power which, until now, has been wielded only by the major religions. More generally, there are those who, like the politically correct everywhere, are driven by a need for public expression of their own virtue."
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