In this episode I'm joined by Katy Swain and Jessie Winter. Both Katy and Jessie have an interest in the economics of sustainablity and in Modern Monetary Theory. Jesse has a masters in sustainable economics and Katy, as part of her studies, has written a paper on the impact of Australia's supermarket duopoly on the producers and suppliers of our food. Together they unpack some of the ramifications of the concentration of power that the duopoly represents.

Katy has kindly supplied these notes and resources:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-13/does-a-supermarket-duopoly-mean-more-food-waste/103559734
This is a really shocking report based on submissions to the Senate
inquiry led by the Greens' Nick McKim.

https://theaimn.net/us-iran-war-threatens-australias-food-supply-delivery-crisis-looms/
A very good recent article by our colleague Martha on the fragility of
the global food system. (I have to say I have a lot less faith in
technology — particularly "AI" — than she does.)

https://theconversation.com/price-check-how-a-public-grocery-chain-would-disrupt-nzs-supermarket-duopoly-265844
An interesting article from New Zealand advocating for publicly-owned
supermarkets, a particular hobby horse of mine. We're planning a
RadioMMT episode about (in part) my peculiar ideas about how to address
supermarkets, probably going to air in one of the "J" months.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-29/food-supply-chain-freight-costs-farmers-and-remote-communities/105382150
Another startling ABC article about the maddeningly inefficient
efficiencies of supermarket logistics.

More here:

https://katyswain.me/tag/supermarkets/linkage
https://katyswain.me/tag/food-insecurity/linkage