Twenty years ago, the World Economic Forum came under heavy criticism from the left over its promotion of globalisation. The WEF runs the uber-exclusive Davos talkfest attended by billionaires, CEOs, and rock stars, so you’d expect it to support market-friendly policies. The WEF still supports globalisation, but it is now also advocating a Great Reset of global capitalism in this time of pandemic.

Now, ironically given its history, the WEF’s greatest critics are on the right. Critics worry that the Great Reset agenda to, among other things, reduce inequality and address climate change, will usher in an age of heavy-handed government intervention and the abolition of private property rights. On Sky Australia, Senator Matt Canavan called the Great Reset “crazy, kooky stuff”.

How worried should we be by the Great Reset? For thought-provoking views on the Great Reset, check out my interview with Darren Brady Nelson in Economics Explored EP63: The Great Reset. Darren is the Chief Economist of LibertyWorks, an Australian libertarian think tank, and he is also a Policy Advisor to the Heartland Institute, a well-known US pro-free-market think tank.

My view is that, given specific policy measures such as a wealth tax or an emissions trading scheme would have to be enacted by national governments, and in Australia either measure seems unlikely to be enacted by the current Government, the Great Reset agenda may not end up having much of an impact here, at least not for a few years.

For further info on the Great Reset, check out this article I co-authored with Adept Economics Research Assistant Taylor-Rose Hull:

What is the Great Reset agenda and is there need for concern?

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