Joe Walker Podcast LIVE — Richard Holden & Steven Hamilton on State Capacity [Sydney]

Join Joe Walker in conversation with two of Australia’s leading public policy economists—Richard Holden and Steven Hamilton

Richard Holden is Professor of Economics at UNSW and President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Steven Hamilton is Assistant Professor of Economics at George Washington University and a former official at the Australian Treasury.

Together, they've coauthored Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism, a book that, while ostensibly about how Australia navigated the covid crisis, offers one of the most incisive explorations of Australian state capacity in recent years.

Topic: "State capacity" refers to a government's ability to get things done. Compared to other countries, Australia has very high state capacity. In this conversation, Richard, Steven, and Joe will explore why the Australian administrative state is so peculiarly effective.

Schedule 

6:00pm: Doors open

6:30pm - 8:00pm: Podcast conversation, including audience Q&A

8:00pm - late: Meet-and-greet

Venue

Final venue details will be announced soon. The event will be held in or near Sydney's CBD.

Disclaimer: Please note that audio and video of this event will be recorded for future publication on The Joe Walker Podcast.

—————————

About Joe Walker's Australian Policy Salons

This event is part of Joe Walker’s Australian Policy Salons—live conversations in early 2025 with Australia’s leading thinkers on the country’s most pressing issues. Learn more and buy tickets to other events here.

What are "Policy Salons"?

These events aren’t public lectures.

Think of them as salons for the policy-minded—intimate, high-quality gatherings where big ideas meet thoughtful people.

With just 50–70 tickets per session, the focus is on depth, not scale—giving you the chance to ask questions, share ideas, and connect with a curious, engaged audience.

The goal is to create a space for meaningful conversations about Australia’s most urgent policy challenges—both on stage and off.

About The Joe Walker Podcast

Joe Walker hosts The Joe Walker Podcast on which he conducts deeply-researched interviews with founders, scientists and public intellectuals. 

Joe's podcast has been the #1 ranked business show in the Australian Apple Podcast Charts, profiled by the Australian Financial Review, awarded two Emergent Ventures grants from Tyler Cowen, and described by Australia's Assistant Treasurer Dr Andrew Leigh MP as "the best Australian podcast".

Recent interviews/guests include:

• An interview with Nassim Taleb — the transcript of which will be a chapter in the new edition of Taleb's book The Statistical Consequences of Fat Tails.
• Katalin Karikó's first ever longform podcast interview — before she won the Nobel prize in 2023 (for inventing mRNA technology).
• One of Daniel Kahneman's final interviews (in which he praised Joe's interviewing skills).
• A 4.5-hour interview with former Australian Treasury Secretary Ken Henry.
• David Deutsch and Steven Pinker's first ever public dialogue.
• Former US Treasury Secretary (and current OpenAI board member) Larry Summers' first rigorous interview on the economic implications of AI.

You can subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.