Edward Lawrence Wheelwright

Infobox Person
name = Ted Wheelwright
birth_name = Edward Lawrence Wheelwright
birth_date = 1921
birth_place = Sheffield, UK
death_date = 2007
death_place = Sydney, Australia
education = University of St Andrews
occupation = Economist, lecturer at Bristol University, lecturer at University of Sydney, radio presenter, Commonwealth Bank board member, editor "Political Economy" newsletter
spouse = Wendy McGregor
known_for = Analysis of Corporate Globalisation, International Trade Theory

Ted Wheelwright (b. 1921, Sheffield, England - d. 2007, Sydney, Australia) was a notable Australian economist, radio host and anti-war activist who taught at the University of Sydney from 1952 until 1986. [Stilwell, Frank "Obituary: Ted Wheelwright, 1921-2007" Online at: http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1868] [Stilwell, Frank. "Political Economy: The contest of economic ideas", Oxford University Press (2006)] He has written on Australian economic history, often from an institutionalist or Marxian perspective, and his published works have included the analysis of capitalism in Australian history [Wheelwright E.L. & Buckley, K "False Paradise: Australian Capitalism Revisited, 1915-1955", Oxford University Press (1998)] and an analysis of the influence and development of transnational corporationsCrough, G. J., Wheelwright, E. L. "Australia: client state of international capital: a case study of the mineral industry." Essays in the Political Economy of Australian Capitalism. v.5, 1983: -15--42] . He authored 11 books independently and 5 with co-editors, and made frequent appearances on ABC Radio's "Notes on the News" program. He is the namesake of a memorial lecture at the University of Sydney [http://www.usu.usyd.edu.au/Whats_On/The_First_EL_%E2%80%98Ted%E2%80%99_Wheelwright_Memorial_Lecture.aspx?t=7&d=374] and an annual prize in the university's political economy course. While at the University of Sydney, he set up the Transnational Corporations Research Project.

tudy of Transnational Corporations

Wheelwright was a vocal critic of the influence of transnational corporations in the politics of sovereign countries. Writing in 1982 with G.J. Crough, he argued:

:"The kind of state that transnationals have opted to work closely with ... are some of the most repressive of states in the world which, in order to provide the political stability, good investment climate and cheap, disciplined labour so beloved of transnational managers, have repressed political demands, depoliticised the populace, destroyed political institutions, and emasculated organised labour. ... There are those who argue that such repression shows the true face of capital, liberal capitalism being an historical aberration." [page 185, Wheelwright E.L. & Crough, G.J. (1982) "Australia: a client state"]

Along with fellow University of Sydney economist Gregory Crough, Ted Wheelwright was one of the founding members and permanent staff of the Transnational Corporations Research Project, set up through the University of Sydney in July 1975. The stated goal of the project was to "provide information on, and initiate research into aspects of foreign investment, and the activities of transnational corporations in Australia." [quoted from the foreword to publications of the Transnational Corporations Research Project] Publications of the project assert three objectives;

:"(a) the publication of books, research monographs, working papers and data papers,:"(b) the building up of a library of books, articles and relevant journals...:"(c) the establishment of relationships with similar research projects in other countries..." [quoted from the foreword to publications of the Transnational Corporations Research Project]

Through the project Wheelwright keep a correspondence with the United Nations Information and Research Centre on Transnational Corporations, the Transnational Institute in Washington, and an institute of the same name in Amsterdam. More than forty documents were published by the Transnational Corporations Research Project.

Published Works

Books

* Wheelwright, E.L. & Buckley, K. "False Paradise: Australian Capitalism Revisited, 1915-1955", Oxford University Press (1998)
* Wheelwright, E.L. & Crough, G.J. "Australia, the client state : a study of the effects of transnational corporations" (Sydney: Transnational Corporations Research Project, University of Sydney) (1981)
* Wheelwright, E.L. "Radical political economy: collected essays", Sydney : Australia & New Zealand Book Co. (1974)

Articles

* Crough, G. J., Wheelwright, E. L. "Australia: client state of international capital: a case study of the mineral industry." Essays in the Political Economy of Australian Capitalism. v.5, 1983: -15--42
* Wheelwright, Ted "Transnational Corporations and Dependent Development in Asia and the Pacific", Consumers, transnational corporations and development, (Sydney: University of Sydney, Transnational Corporations Research Project) (1986) pp. 15-44
* Wheelwright, E.L. & Crough, G.J. "The Changing Pacific Rim Economy, with Special Reference to Japanese Transnational Corporations: A View from Australia" published in: Economic institutions in a dynamic society: Search for a new frontier. (Proceedings of a conference held by the International Economic Association in Tokyo, Japan) 1989, pp. 61-78
* Wheelwright, E. L. "Why Has Economics Become So Conservative? The Visible Hand of the Think-Tanks" Journal of Economic and Social Policy, Summer 1995, vol.1(1) pp. 21-29
* Wheelwright, E.L. "Political Constipation and Vested Interests: The Scott & Jackson Committees of Inquiry", Journal of Economic and Social Policy Vol:2(1) (1997) pp.1325-2224
* Wheelwright, Ted "Carte blanche for global corporations: What is the MAI? Why is it so worrying?" Arena Magazine (Fitzroy, Vic), no.34, Apr/ May (1998) pp.38-40.

Transnational Corporations Research Project Papers

* Wheelwright, E.L. "Transnational corporations and the new international divisions of labour: some implications for Australia", (Sydney: University of Sydney, Transnational Corporations Research Project) Occasional Paper No. 4
* Wheelwright, E.L. "Consumers and Transnational Corporations", (Sydney: University of Sydney, Transnational Corporations Research Project) Working Paper No. 11
* Crough, G.J. and Wheelwright, E.L. "Foreign ownership and control of Australian industries and resources: a data compendium", (Sydney: University of Sydney, Transnational Corporations Research Project) Data Paper No. 3
* Crough, G.J. and Wheelwright, E.L. (1982) "Transnational corporations and the Pacific", (Sydney: University of Sydney, Transnational Corporations Research Project) Working Paper No. 12

References