At a time when the prospects of the Australian economy are at the center of public debate, the relationship between state and economy deserves special scrutiny. This volume provides a detailed examination of key aspects of Australia's political economy. Governments and agencies of the state have had and continue to have a significant impact on Australia's economic prospects, although the form of state-economy interaction in Australia has changed significantly in recent history. The work analyzes important areas of state-economy interaction from microeconomic and macroeconomic policy areas to recent changes in industrial relations arrangements, to issues of Australia's changing role in the world economy. Emphasis has been placed on the ways in which economic life is affected by the state, and on how the institutions and policies of the state are shaped by economic forces. The book should prove highly useful as a teaching text in undergraduate and post-graduate courses on politics, economic policy, public policy, economic history and economic sociology.