Over the past four decades the world's wealthy nations, including Australia, have been undertaking a vast social and economic experiment. Whether you think this experiment has been a success, or a colossal failure, depends on how rich you are. This experiment is generally called 'neoliberalism' by progressive people like me. More conservative people are more likely to call it 'free market economics' or the more fuzzy 'economic reform'. The core idea that drives this experiment is that markets are the most potent and efficient way of organising production and consumption of both good and services. This has several implications for the way governments should act. They shouldn't compete with private sector entities, and should sell any government entities that do so. Hence the wave of privatisations around the globe. They should keep their regulation of market activity to a minimum, as this interferes with the 'free' operation of markets. They s...
"We are tiny specks of life wandering around the edge of this vast expanse of blue, and imagining ourselves on our blue planet can bring us both humility and comfort." Helen Czerski