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Could you tell us a little bit about your research focus (or foci) and what drew you towards working with SEI?

My research broadly examines the big shifts that are underway in global capitalism, with a focus on public policy and public finance.

Many of my research projects are directly on environmental concerns. I鈥檓 part of an ARC Discovery Project that is looking into issues of social legitimacy in renewable energy transitions in Australia, India and Germany. And I am writing a book on climate finance with Dr Sophie Webber from the School of Geosciences.

I have other research projects underway about welfare policy, housing inequalities, and justice reinvestment in Indigenous communities. At first glance, these don鈥檛 appear to be 鈥榚nvironmental鈥�, but they are all deeply connected to climate and environmental justice. SEI is the perfect place to be able to connect these dots.

I also have another role as economist with SEI鈥檚 fellow Multi-Disciplinary Institute, the Sydney Policy Lab. I鈥檓 looking forward to being able to build new collaborations between both.

You were recently awarded a DECRA (congrats!), for research kicking off shortly. Can you tell us a little bit about the project and what you鈥檙e hoping will come from it?

Thanks! The project is about shifts in the way governments are raising and spending money. I am particularly interested in the notion of 鈥榝iscal space鈥� 鈥� the ideas, rules and politics that shape what is possible in public finance.

The Covid-19 pandemic massively moved the dial both in terms of how much governments can spend and what this spending can achieve. In the face of a massive health and economic shock, the suspension of austerity, at least temporarily, turned out to be entirely manageable.

Climate change shows the need for an even more fundamental reshaping of fiscal space. Governments need to grapple with climate risks and uncertainties on time horizons for which existing budgetary frameworks are ill-equipped. And we urgently need mass, widescale climate investment today (well, yesterday).

In my project, I will be focusing on the 鈥榥ew fiscal spaces鈥� that governments are, or could be, experimenting with, to support public investment. One of the things I am really interested in is how governments can finance much needed climate infrastructure such as renewables as public and community assets.

It鈥檚 great to have another political economist on board. What perspectives and tools from political economy do you think will be particularly useful in terms of SEI鈥檚 interdisciplinary mission?聽

Political economy is useful for answering many of the 鈥榳hy鈥� and 鈥榟ow鈥� questions of environmental change. It can illuminate relationships between our economy and environment, including the environmental basis of economic systems, and the ways we could organise our economies differently for more just and sustainable purposes.

But, understanding, and changing, the world requires more than political economists! I am really excited to be able to connect with colleagues across so many disciplinary backgrounds at SEI, many of whom are closely engaged with those at the frontlines of our environmental crisis.

And for a final, less academic question 鈥� when you are not researching and teaching, how do you enjoy spending your time?

I am quite into sport 鈥� both watching and playing! I鈥檓 a big Sydney Swans fan and try to get to as many games at the SCG as I can. And I鈥檓 also part of a few (allegedly) 鈥榮ocial鈥� netball teams.

Gareth Bryant聽is a political economist at the University of Sydney. He works as a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Economy and as economist-in-residence with the Sydney Policy Lab. Gareth researches how public policy and public finance can create more sustainable, equal and democratic economies. His research has focused on issues including climate change, higher education, housing, labour and Indigenous justice.

Gareth is the author of聽Carbon Markets in a Climate-Changing Capitalism聽(Cambridge University Press, 2019). His research has been published in a range of academic journals including聽Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space,听Antipode,听Energy Policy, the聽Annals of the American Association of Geographers听补苍诲听New Political Economy. Gareth was awarded the Global Network for Financial Geography (FINGEO) dissertation prize and the Australian International Political Economy Network (AIPEN) journal article prize. He has been a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project on energy transitions and was awarded the Sydney Research Accelerator (SOAR) Prize for early career researchers at the University of Sydney.