Alex Millmow

• The Power of Economic Ideas (2010)

Alex Millmow
Awards	2005 HETSA Award for Best PhD Dissertation [1]
Academic background
Alma mater	Australian National University
Thesis	The power of economic ideas : the origins of macroeconomic management in interwar Australia : 1929-1939  (2004)
Doctoral advisor	Selwyn Cornish
Influences	John Maynard Keynes Joan Robinson Colin Clark

Alexander John Millmow is an Australian economic historian, journalist, and author. Formerly an associate professor at Federation University Australia, ^[2] he is an honorary research fellow at Australian National University and a adjunct associate professor at Federation, ^[3] and is president of the History of Economic Thought Society of Australia. ^[4]

Millmow was an early advocate of increasing economics education in schools because of the decline in practical economic literacy in Australia. ^[5] He also believes politicians in the 1970s and 1980s acted more boldly than politicians of the 2020s. ^[6] He has cautioned the Albanese Government that its plans to make the Reserve Bank of Australia completely independent are undermining Australian Labor Party history. ^[7]

Books

Millmow is the author of books including:

• The Power of Economic Ideas: The Origins of Keynesian Macroeconomic Management in Interwar Australia 1929–39 (Australian National University E Press, 2010) ^[8]
• A History of Australasian Economic Thought (Routledge, 2017) ^[9]
• The Gypsy Economist: The Life and Times of Colin Clark (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021) ^[10]

He is co-editor of Reclaiming Pluralism in Economics (Routledge, 2016, with Jerry Courvisanos and James Doughney). ^[11]

References

1. "recent prize winners". History of Economic Thought Society of Australia. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
2. "Associate Professor Alex Millmow". 150 Faces of Fed. Federation University. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
3. About the author. Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved 24 July 2021.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
4. "The president, HETSA". History of Economic Thought Society of Australia. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
5. "Interview with Alex Millmow - Rethinking Economics Australia". 3 October 2021.
6. 'How a secret plan 50 years ago changed Australia’s economy forever, in just one night', The Conversation, 2023, https://theconversation.com/how-a-secret-plan-50-years-ago-changed-australias-economy-forever-in-just-one-night-209378
7. 'Jim Chalmers wants a truly independent RBA. He should be careful what he wishes', The Conversation, 2023, forhttps://theconversation.com/jim-chalmers-wants-a-truly-independent-rba-he-should-be-careful-what-he-wishes-for-204550
8. Reviews of The Power of Economic Ideas:
   • Bernard Attard, Australian Economic History Review, doi : 10.1111/j.1467-8446.2011.00326.x
   • Peter Fearon, The Economic Record, doi : 10.1111/j.1475-4932.2011.00737.x
   • Hansjoerg Klausinger, History of Economic Ideas, JSTOR   23723619
   • Matthew Smith, Journal of the History of Economic Thought, doi : 10.1017/S1053837214000595
9. Reviews of A History of Australasian Economic Thought:
   • Michael Beggs, Journal of the History of Economic Thought, doi : 10.1017/S1053837218000469
   • Selwyn Cornish, Agenda, JSTOR   90022780
   • Simon Guttmann, The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, doi : 10.1080/09672567.2020.1720362
   • G. C. Harcourt, History of Political Economy, doi : 10.1215/00182702-7685303
   • John Hawkins, Australian Economic History Review, doi : 10.1111/aehr.12176
   • J. E. King, The Economic and Labour Relations Review, doi : 10.1177/1035304618757633
   • Brendan Markey-Towler, Economic Record, doi : 10.1111/1475-4932.12387
   See also a colloquium in History of Economics Review (volume 69, 2018) dedicated to this work:
   • William Coleman, "Introducing a History of Australasian Economic Thought", doi : 10.1080/10370196.2018.1542763
   • Anthony M. Endres, "Noise and Signal in the Latest History of Australasian Economic Thought", doi : 10.1080/10370196.2018.1488510
   • Gregory C. G. Moore, "The Failure of Historians to Engage with Recent Economic Thought: The Case of Millmow", doi : 10.1080/10370196.2018.1535241
   • Peter Kriesler & J. W. Nevile, "Keynesianism in Australia", doi : 10.1080/10370196.2018.1540079
   • Paul Oslington, "Comments on Alex Millmow’s History of Australasian Economics", doi : 10.1080/10370196.2018.1535228
   • John Lodewijks, "Millmow and Australasian Economics", doi : 10.1080/10370196.2018.1535229
   • Alex Millmow, "The HAET of the Matter", doi : 10.1080/10370196.2018.1535232
10. Reviews of The Gypsy Economist:
    • Ross Fitzgerald, The Australian,
    • Frank Stilwell, Journal of Australian Political Economy,
11. Reviews of Reclaiming Pluralism in Economics:
    • Salewa ‘Yinka Olawoye, American Review of Political Economy,
    • Frank Stilwell, Journal of Australian Political Economy,