Three economic challenges for Australia

Schools should be about preparing children for the new world of work. Skills to be taught include: how to run your own business, time management, conflict resolution, and how to understand contracts. Perhaps each school itself should be seen as a business, with principals as entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial mindset needs to be acquired early on.

Second, given the problem of widespread unemployment that will be caused by information technology we need to put some money in circulation to stimulate effective consumer demand.

Computers work 24/7, never go on strike and have no personality squabbles. But they don't consume very much either. We need to keep money circulating.

This could be done via a Universal Basic Income (UBI), for all Australians once they turn 18. All adults would receive this flat sum of money from the government (which would replace the complicated set of welfare benefits).

The sum would provide a bare minimum on which to survive; doubtless many people would also continue to work for much more money (and so via their tax repay the UBI).

A slogan from the (unsuccessful) June 2016 Swiss UBI referendum asked: "what would you do if your income were taken care of?" In other words, in the emerging new economy it is important to give people a financial foundation so that they can then turn their minds to being inventive and entrepreneurial. Finland, some parts of Canada and The Netherlands are continuing with their UBI experiments

Australia is heading into a new economic era. We need some bold thinking to make the most of all the new opportunities.