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AbstractThis note reviews new approaches to topics in economic history that have come into practice in the last 20 years or so. The three main approaches are cliodynamics, big history and deep history. All three extend the time scale of economic history investigations to beyond that of written history and involve a variety of disciplines other than economics and history. Cliodynamics and big history are essentially quantitative. They use models to interpret historical phenomena and test hypotheses derived from the models. An example of a research topic is provided for each of the three new approaches. These new areas offer many opportunities for the student of economic history.

This paper reviews the history of tariffs imposed by the six Australian colonies during the nineteenth century. In each of the colonies, we identify the starting dates for the first tariffs, first preferences, and other features, and the turning points in the levels of tariffs. We then construct a time series of the average tariff levels in the individual colonies and an average for all six colonies combined. The conclusion notes general features of the pattern of tariffs and how the main features of colonial tariffs, such as the favourable treatment of intermediate inputs, the complex differentiation of tariff rates within industries, and the protection implicit in the excise tax system all carried over to the Commonwealth Customs Tariff in the twentieth century.

This article examines the first appearances of the isoquant, a concept that is central to production and supply theory. It appears to have been discovered independently by Bowley, Frisch, Cobb, and Lerner, in that order. Frisch coined the term isoquant. It is possible but not likely that Frisch took the concept from Bowley, and Lerner may have taken it from R. G. D. Allen. The article also discusses why the discovery of the isoquant was not made until more than forty years after that of the indifference curve, when to a modern analyst the isoquant appears isomorphic to the indifference curve and could have been copied straight from utility theory.

AbstractThis introduction outlines the main choices that the Australian Government had in designing a carbon price policy. It concludes with an assessment of the findings of the articles in this Policy Forum.

The paper reviews critically the arguments concerning greater voice for developing countries in global governance. It supports the arguments for greater voice but argues that greater voice brings with it greater responsibilities in terms of the actions and commitments from developing countries. The two main illustrations are the multilateral trade negotiations in the WTO and the negotiations concerning climate change in the UN. In both case, it is argued, developing countries must assume greater responsibilities if these negotiations are to be concluded. This can be done in a way which yields net benefits to the developing countries themselves.

There is a crisis in multilateralism. This paper examines multilateralism by looking at the two most important current efforts to devise new multilateral rules binding all nations; the negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) of trade rules and the negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to devise rules restricting the annual emissions of greenhouse gases. Both negotiations have failed after several years of intensive effort. There are remarkable parallels in these negotiations. Both have used the same approach to negotiations; consensus decision-taking, a bottom-up approach and differential treatment of developing countries, and complex modalities. These features have made the negotiations tortuous. Major changes in international relations have made agreement impossible to date: large global market imbalances and changes in geopolitical balances have produced a general distrust among major parties and an absence of leadership. What is needed most of all is a common or shared vision of the gains from binding multilateral rules for the world economy.