Economic Theory and Economic Policy

Abstract

SPECIAL attention is merited by Dr. Walker's new book.2 It is the work of a leading Australian economist with a distinguished career as teacher and adviser to various public bodies. Dr. Walker's academic stature resembles that of J. B. Condliffe and A. G. B. Fisher, to name only a few of those economists whose work accounts for much what by now has become a sort of Australian tradition in economic thinking. This Australian school has always maintained contact with the great Cambridge tradition but was, in its most notable exponents, never completely identifiable with it. Whatever may have been the reasons for its differentiation-distance and detachment, individuality, and the special problems of a new science in a new country-the Australian school's eminent realism and practical common sense seem to be its most outstanding characteristics. It may be that an especially pleasant reality has prevented the fanciful flights which neoclassical economics on occasion has taken in a less favorable climate.