This outspoken labour economist is sceptical about the government's 'wellbeing budget' — and a future made in Australia
Mark Wooden has spent decades deep in economic research. He is worried about where Australia is heading.
Labour economist and former Coalition appointee to the Fair Work Commission's minimum wage panel Mark Wooden is known for speaking bluntly even on controversial issues. So perhaps it's not a huge surprise that when asked about Treasurer Jim Chalmers' upcoming federal budget and the 'wellbeing' framework it will include, he doesn't hold back.
“I’m very skeptical about the value of this,” Wooden tells Capital Brief, as part of a wide-ranging interview about his career and professional interests. “I think what [Chalmers] is trying to do is make an apology for governments failing economically.”
The reason for Wooden's doubt about the government’s national wellbeing framework is his experience as director of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey for more than two decades until mid-2023.
Every year the HILDA survey asks a group of Australians about their satisfaction with their life. Despite pandemics, economic ups and downs and a myriad of other global and domestic challenges, the result reveals something remarkable — “it hardly changes”.
