View from The Hill: Mathias Cormann offers blunt advice on countering populism and reforming the economy

Key points

• Mathias Cormann, secretary-general of the OECD and a former Liberal finance minister, has warned that mainstream parties should not adopt populist economics. Speaking to the Centre for Independent Studies, he said the grievances behind populism, including falling real incomes and housing access, were real.
• He argued that tariffs, migration caps and state intervention were not the answer.
• Cormann also set out a reform agenda covering tax reform, including a GST overhaul, and the use of artificial intelligence to lift productivity.