Australia

Australia is the first country case in Our mission: Find the world’s best economic ideas (Summer School World Tour), where Planet Money uses it to explain Water Market Design. The episode presents Australian water markets as among the world’s most advanced systems for buying and selling water rights, especially in drought-prone agricultural regions.

The episode also uses Australia as a democratic-institution contrast. Justin Wolfers points to Saturday elections and community voting rituals as examples of civic design that can make participation easier and more cohesive.

Connections

• New South Wales, Murray River, and Murray-Darling Basin - geography of the water case.
• Carly Marriott and Neil Hughes - farmer and analyst perspectives on the water market.
• Water Market Design, Water Rights Trading, Market Speculation, and Climate Adaptation - concepts added by the source.
• Inflation Targeting - policy framework the episode says Australia later adopted after New Zealand’s experiment spread.