A zippier economy: Lessons from the 1992 Hilmer Competition Reforms

On 17 October 2022, Andrew Leigh delivered a talk in the Sydney Ideas series – Sydney University’s flagship speech series. Here is a summary: “In October 1992, Prime Minister Paul Keating announced the establishment of a major independent inquiry into competition policy in Australia. Fred Hilmer’s review sparked the National Competition Policy reforms, which was followed by a surge in productivity. Thirty years on, Andrew Leigh will look at what lessons the Hilmer Review and National Competition Policy can teach us. After the worst decade of income growth in the post-war era, Leigh argues that it is vital to prioritise competition. Globally, regulators are actively looking at what Louis Brandeis famously called ‘the curse of bigness’, and considering how excessive market concentration might harm consumers, hurt workers, and reduce economic activity. A zippier economy requires more startups, more mobility, and more innovation.”