Articles by: Richard Hil

It is unusual for economists to talk about democracy and socialism, and even more unusual for them to talk about economic theory in the context of democratic socialism. But this is precisely what occurred recently at an event in regional northern New South Wales.

The impacts of neoliberalism on universities are well documented and understood. From the marketisation of research and curricula and the erosion of collegiality to the de-professionalisation of academic work, the modern university has been radically transformed over recent decades.

The new fat cats in Australia's Universities <br /><br /> These days Australian universities look more like rapacious private firms than public institutions dedicated to the common good. Increasing private-sector investment in research, private ownership of research outcomes and protection through intellectual-property laws, casualisation of labour, and managerial capture all point to what is now a commercially driven, corporatised system. As one senior University of Sydney manager remarked notably, universities are 'more like sales operations…