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| "Econobabble" by Richard Denniss. |
“Econobabble” caught my attention about the time Malcolm Turnbull orchestrated the July 2 Federal Election.
The PM announced election date earlier this month and we
have been subjected to exactly that ever since.
A friend, Juris, and the father of Peter Greste (who began
his journalism career in Shepparton)
recommended the Richard Denniss book.
Juris has had a life-long interest in urban design and
through that has developed a keen sense of the sensibilities
of what it is the makes life better and how the inappropriate language can
easily corrupt understanding.
“Econobabble” is about exactly that as it is the verbal
sleight-of-hand used to make what should
be simple, almost unintelligible and impenetrable to
most people, and to give it a sense of sophistication and importance.
Most seeking election, from
our PM down, talk as if the economy is a science (it’s not), something that
only an elite in-group can appreciate and understand and so it is best left to
those who pull the financial levers, or that is the implication.
Words like “surplus”,
“deficit”, “deregulation”, “profits” and terms
such as “market forces”, “terms of trade”, “invisible hand”, “red tape”, and “nanny state”, “live within our means”
are frequently thrust into discussions to both confuse listeners and portray a
sense of knowledge; knowledge advocated with such confidence that it’s unquestionably
correct and beyond challenge. That is “Econobabble” in full flight.
Unlike science that is
based on measurable and identifiable facts, the
economy is little more than opinion, but being at the heart of modernity it
inevitably, and quickly becomes the province of he or she with the loudest
voice, the most charisma and so the most influence.
The recently signed
Tran-Pacific Partnership is the pinnacle of “Econobabble" as it took more
than 1000 pages of text to explain what Denniss says could be summed up in one
line – “There will be no restrictions on trade between Australia and the United
States”.
Rhetoric is remote from the restraints
of physics, but in economics, anyone can float any idea they like (Australia’s
Treasurer doesn’t need any economic qualifications to hold the nation’s purse
strings) and so inevitably conversations about money quickly become
“Econobabble”.
It is disturbing that the
health of our economy and the broader health of Australian society are interrelated
is an idea that has become entrenched in the national conversation.
Australia is, or close to the
richest nation on Earth and yet even a cursory look shows that many people live
in poverty, many are homeless, many live precarious lives, healthcare is not
universally available or equitable in any sense, education is becoming
polarized between the rich and the rest, and the essence of our society is
being skewed to emphasize the individual at the expense of our communities.
Australia may well be
economically rich, but it is socially poor as the innovation and drive that has
long enriched the country has morphed and solidified into a way of life that favours
a relative few and leaves the rest scrambling for the scraps.
Denniss argues we should
never acquiesce when confronted by apparently knowledgeable and authoritative
people, rather we should question their every comment, and be aware of
confirmation bias (agreeing with something simply because it supports existing
beliefs).
We should ready ourselves for
what will be another month or so of “Econobabble”.
