Geoff Carmody is still riding his elitist’s hobby horse. 
As he has been doing ever since Ross Garnaut, a fellow economist and government advisor on matters economic in connection with Climate Change, issued his first paper in 2008. Carmody, at that time, immediately jumped on the then freshly painted wooden nag, and began rocking away for all he was worth on his view of why Garnaut’s perspective simply wouldn’t work. If you read enough of Carmody’s writings, you’ll pretty soon get the idea that no matter what anyone else might think, Geoffrey Carmody always knows better.
Have a quick gander at the ‘bio’ provided to attendees at the 2009 ANU conference – Climate Change: Policy Choices & Politics
Geoff Carmody is Director of Geoff Carmody and Associates and a co-founder of Access Economics for whom he continues contracting work. He was involved in the development of Fightback! for the Hewson Opposition in the early 1990s, and other policy costings for Federal and State Oppositions before and since, including costing the Labor Opposition’s Policy Platform for the 2001 federal election. From 2004 to 2006 he was a director of Patrick Corporation. He was also a Panel Member of the Energy Reform Implementation Group that investigated reform of Australia’s electricity markets and reported to COAG in 2007.
No fool, is Geoffrey Carmody, but equally not a realist in terms of political realities under the “New Paradigm” . We all know that Gillard’s Carbon Price mechanism, transmuting within five years to an Emissions Trading SCHEME (not scam, Geoffrey), is essentially flawed. Kevin Rudd’s CPRS was, essentially, flawed. The Resource Super Profits Tax is, or will be in its final form, essentially flawed. Why is this? Because in the real world different interest groups need to be pandered to in order that genuine public policy – as opposed to economist-oriented perfectionism – can be structured such that it stands alone and works to the greater benefit of the greatest number. That is the end goal of public policy creation, or should be at any rate. The best possible example in recent times is the GST. As a Goods and Services Tax, it should, by rights, have replaced ALL other forms of direct and indirect taxation on consumption. It hasn’t, and in reality, never would have. Howard knew that and pragmatism decreed that the special interest groups which brayed at the time be appeased, and they were.
Geoffrey Carmody is what could easily be termed, in the case of what manna is available to proponents within the media supporting regime change, as a useful idiot. His arguments are purest and not pragmatic to any appreciable degree. He would have made a perfect foil for use by the likes of Peter Lewis and Marius Benson in their tête–à–tête with Gerard Henderson over which economists supported IR reform in the mid-eighties. Carmody is on the record on that issue, but Gerard would doubtless claim that 1989 isn’t ‘mid 1980’s’.
Do a Google search on ‘Geoff Carmody’ and you’ll find that much of what he’s written on the issue of Climate Change & the economic address of it has been picked up as negativity du jour by the Murdoch media in it’s campaign to destroy the current government. From 2008 right up to the present day’s article. No malice on Carmody’s behalf, I dare say, but we all know how the Murdoch media will treat other people’s intents. I don’t doubt Carmody believes what he espouses, and after all, isn’t economics an elitists sport? Black Magic is what it is, truth be told. So mote it be.