Nugget Coombs
A Reforming Life
Published on 23. July 2002
Book
Hardback
430 pages
978-0-521-81783-7 (ISBN)
Description
H. C. Coombs was one of the most influential Australians of the twentieth century. Born in 1906, he is best known as the governor of the Reserve Bank, but the breadth of his activities and his commitment to public life until his death is unsurpassed. Tim Rowse traces Coombs' life from his childhood in Western Australia to his many roles as policy maker, change agent, advocate and adviser. Particularly interested in Coombs as an economist, Tim Rowse shows that a key motif in his life as a public servant was to create an economic rationality among the political elite that was socially integrative and that looked beyond the strictures of economics to environmental sustainability, scientific and artistic creativity. This 2002 book covers Coombs' life from birth to death, providing intriguing insights into the life of one of Australia's most influential people.
Reviews / Votes
'This is a remarkable study both for the depth of the research, the intellectual range of the analysis, and the sheer force of the exposition. I recommend it wholeheartedly.' Stuart Macintyre 'This is an excellent account of an excellent Australian.' Professor Geoffrey BoltonMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Illustrations
8 Halftones, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
770 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-81783-7 (9780521817837)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Tim Rowse is a Senior Research Fellow, History Program, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University.
Content
Part I. Learning and Teaching: 1. Childhood and youth; 2. Schooling; 3. Self-possession; 4. Busselton; 5. Claremont; 6. Wheat belt days; 7. Night student; 8. Finding the words; 9. Representing; 10. Murdoch; Part II. Liberalism's Crisis: 11. LSE student; 12. Politics v. economics; 13. The money power and its critics; 14. Poor Britain; Part III. The Experts we Need: 15. A vacancy?; 16. The economists; 17. From people's bank to central bank; 18. Sweden and Australia; Part IV. New Orders: 19. Trusting the people; 20. Reconstruction and feminism; 21. Fighting for 'yes'; 22. Soldiers and workers; Part V. Internationalist: 23. Labor's new internationalism; 24. The diplomacy of security; 25. Success in London; 26. Global temptations; 27. Geneva; 28. Havana; 29. An official community; 30. Coombs the Keynesian; Part VI. From Labor to Liberal: 31. Chifley's 'family'; 32. The commanding heights?; 33. The Cold War and CSIRO; 34. Vice Chancellor?; 35. Reconstructing Papua New Guinea; 36. Governor and father; 37. Chifley's man; 38. Menzies' man?; 39. Corporate Elizabethan; Part VII. Other People's Money: 40. Inflation and war; 41. Wage earners' democracy; 42. Horror budget; 43. The Governor muted; 44. Stern mentor?; 45. Coombs as boss; 46. Carrots and sticks; 47. Women at the bank; 48. A culture of inflation; 49. Separation; 50. A Melanesian way?; 51. Poor man's overdraft; 52. Frustrated internationalist; Part VIII. Managing Creativity: 53. Reasonable liberty; 54. Visualising Australia; 55. Nuclear matters; 56. Opera; 57. Ballet; 58. In search of an audience; 59. Re-designing Australia; Part IX. Labor's Second Chance: 60. Retirement; 61. Whitlam conscripts Coombs; 62. Trade reform; 63. Two cultural constituencies; 64. Wages and taxes; Part X. Rethink: 65. The stuffed owl of Minerva; 66. Nature and human nature; 67. Economies and communities; 68. Losing the master key; 69. The responsive public servant; Part XI. Elite Outrider: 70. Torres Strait; 71. Conservation and Aborigines; 72. Bapa Dhumbul; Conclusion: histories nostalgic and hopeful.