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This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the author. Researchers can access this thesis by asking their local university, institution or public library to make a request on their behalf. Monash staff and postgraduate students can use the link in the References field.

Substantial weaknesses in the preparation by public health authorities and governments increased the health and economic costs of the Covid-19 pandemic relative to what they would have been if pre-existing recommendations had been followed and a wider set of plans had been put into place. Therefore, we set forth recommendations for carrying out post-mortems on the Covid-19 experience, planning for future pandemics, and establishing transparent and accountable governance systems for ongoing implementations of pre-pandemic plans. These three areas are important in and of themselves, as well as for setting the groundwork for pandemic stress tests and wargames.

In this paper, we discuss 10 parallels between the lack of preparation of financial system regulators prior to the GFC and the lack of preparation by public health authorities and governments prior to Covid-19. These parallels relate to: required stocks (of capital or equipment), data collection and sharing, lending facilities, stress testing and war games, early warning indicators and systems, contagion from abroad, operational risks, a system-wide approach (including effects on the real economy), models incorporating the heterogeneity of individuals, and effects on less-regulated parts of the system. We then go on to consider the steps that were taken to deal with each of the deficiencies in financial system regulation following the Global Financial Crisis as well as the parallel steps that now need to be taken to deal with the deficiencies in pandemic planning.

The displacement impacts of wind power generation on other generation technologies are estimated for Ontario. In addition, their annual financial benefits, costs, and international stakeholder impacts are measured. For every 100 MWh generated, almost 53 MWh of gas output and 23 MWh of hydro output is displaced, and 19 MWh of power is exported. Ontario loses 826.42 million USD annually from having wind power generation in the system, while the US gains 7.50 million USD through electricity exported from Ontario. Wind power generation has produced an estimated 108.98 million USD in reducing CO2 emissions in the US and Ontario through displacing thermal generation. Comparing the environmental benefits with the net cost to consumers shows the promotion of wind power generation to be largely a waste of Ontario's resources.

There is an important interdependence between economic, financial and health policy actions. The recent Covid-19 crisis has demonstrated that, apart from the direct economic consequences from illness and death from the virus, the main economic and financial costs have been due to the varying degrees of preventative measures taken by the public, firms, and governments that directly impacted economic and financial activity. This paper proposes the use of regular, combined medical, economic and financial stress tests and wargames in preparing for future pandemics and other major environmental shocks.

Much has been revealed recently regarding the relative unpreparedness of Public Health Authorities and their governments in many countries. We show that a lack of preparedness for the Covid-19 pandemic resulted from four major types of shortcomings. First, even when there were problems noted in previous epidemics, clear plans were not put in place to deal with similar situations. Second, there was a lack of transparency through the years about whether plans had been implemented after they were written. Third, it wasn't clear that authorities had considered ex ante the effects of pandemic policies on overall health (including mental health). Fourth, governments were largely unprepared to consider the interdependence of health and economic factors in a pandemic and how appropriate 'lockdown', income transfer, and loan policies could be implemented in practice. These shortcomings have increased the economic, health, and social costs of the pandemic. Because pandemics differ significantly, models have a very limited role early in a pandemic. To be the most useful later in a pandemic, they need to incorporate important heterogeneities across age groups and types of location. Importantly, to be useful in examining which policies might be best, they need to incorporate not only the way the disease spreads, but the interdependent effects on overall health and the economy.

This study uses an ex-post evaluation of the grid-connected wind projects in Ontario, Canada, to quantify the stakeholder impacts of such renewable energy projects. Our study includes a financial, economic and stakeholder analysis of these wind farms. The analysis sheds light on the distributional impacts that arise when there is a significant gap between the incentives created by the financial price paid for electricity generation and the economic value of the electricity generated. The analysis shows that the negotiated power purchase agreements (PPAs) have resulted in a negative outcome for the economy in all circumstances. It is found that the present value of the economic costs is at least three times the present value of the economic benefits, including the global benefits from the reduced CO2 emissions. This loss is borne by all the stakeholders of the electricity system, except the private owners of the wind farms. The losers are primarily the electricity consumers followed by the governments. The Ontario Electricity Rebate (OER) programme, which is financed by increased government borrowing, has the effect of transferring a large share of the costs incurred to promote investments in wind power to future generations of taxpayers in Ontario.