Baffling us with bluster and 'Econobabble'

"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”.

Searching for Shepparton's 'Big Idea'

Age is about wisdom, but for youth, it is fertility.

And, it is from the latter that a local group is hoping this year to source the Goulburn Valley’s next “Big Idea”, from youthful minds, teeming with innovative thoughts.

Shepparton’s Slap Tomorrow is working with the city’s Lighthouse Project, several senior local secondary education people and representatives of the  City of Greater Shepparton to set up “Big Ideas, 2016”.

Big Ideas 2016 is about encouraging young people to think about and explore concepts that could successfully and safely take the Goulburn Valley, and all the communities in it, safely deep into the 21st Century.

A Big Idea working group has agreed to further explore the project in the hope of launching it early in the new school year to engage students and teachers and encourage them to discuss what big idea they would like to explore.

The student initiated Big Ideas would need to be unique, or significantly different from what exists giving them legitimacy for the Goulburn Valley urgently needs fresh ideas; ideas that break free sclerotic 20th Century thinking; ideas that are environmentally, socially and economically innovative and responsible.

Discussions about the Big Idea project have been energetic and wide-ranging, but the essence of what is imagined blends beautifully with the calls for ideas and innovation from Australia’s Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

Those appeals from the PM will reverberate with hollowness unless Mr Turnbull and his government can legislate equally innovatively to ensure that any revolutionary thoughts from such concepts as Big Ideas 2016 don’t die in their embryotic state, but are energised by State support.

Success for most of the 20th Century’s great innovations and companies, including Apple, can be traced to work done within government research organizations.

Discussing the need for State involvement to apply the innovation needed to address climate change, the author of “The Entrepreneurial State” Mariana Mazzucato said: “…we are again in the need of an active State that takes on the high uncertainty of its early stages, which the business sector fears.”

Early discussions imagine the students, and their ideas, would be guided by an acknowledged entrepreneurial mentor who could play a role in ensuring the resultant big ideas actually implemented.

But more is needed for without demonstrable and vigorous State support, most any idea, regardless of its ultimate societal value, struggles to make it through what is known as the “valley of death” – that time from infancy to commercial maturity.

The possibility of Shepparton being a centre of excellence has frequently been discussed by some and now with Big Ideas 2016 as the focus, maybe we can imagine a better way, blending what already exists to innovate our way, driven by the fertile minds of our youth, to an even greater, Greater Shepparton.

Considering the past, building the future

Seemingly unproductive discussions about the latest Murray Darling Basin plan cause reflection upon Malcolm Turnbull’s first speech to the Australian parliament eleven years ago.

Richard Heinberg has written about the end
of growth, to which the modern world
 is addicted.

The then newly elected member for the New South Wales seat of Wentworth said: “I am proud to be a part of a government which has led the way in better management of our water resources”.
Honourable thoughts and intent, but after a more than a decade of talk, we are still talking and while that outcome is not personally Turnbull’s responsibility, it is about the tolerance, fairness, justice and frustrating procrastination attributable to democracy.
Being in the shadows of the recent failure of climate talks at Durban, what Turnbull said in that maiden speech seemed prescient; “We must assume on the basis of current science that our world is getting warmer and our country, at least, drier”.
The Sydney based politician, however, is obviously an agent of economic growth, a fact clearly illustrated by his private successful business interests, when, among other things, he said in 2004: “Nothing increase choice or widens the horizons of families more than a strong economy”.

Richard Heinberg's latest
book, The End of Growth.

That was more than a decade ago and economic growth is still today the mandate of governments around the world and is simply the extension of a paradigm that prompts quantitative decisions; decisions that determines success or failure in our contemporary business world.
However, the idea that growth will reveal a future rich in happiness and material goods is dead.
One who is unafraid to talk about the end of growth, having in fact written a book with that title, is American author, journalist and educator, Richard Heinberg.
Writing in his latest newsletter, Heinberg said, after explaining the economic contractions the world faces because of energy depletion: “There is light at the end of the tunnel. If we focus on improving quality of life rather than boosting quantity of consumption, we could be happier even as our economy downsizes to fit nature’s limits”.
Standing at the eve of a New Year, the least we could do is seriously consider how we equate the exhaustion of the world’s resources with the idea of ever expanding growth, and in doing that it would quickly become obvious that the tumour-like growth driven optimism of most is sadly misplaced.
The downsizing Heinberg points to is inevitable, but the decision to favour quality ahead of quantity is a choice.
Modern business parlance is about quality, but that push for excellence is primarily about ensuring the achievement of goals aligned with quantity, or in simple terms, growth.
Future happiness and contentment hinges on us having the integrity to ensure that in everything we do in 2012, quality should precede quantity.

Malcolm Turnbull's appeal goes beyond politics

Malcolm Turnbull is of the wrong political stripe, but I would vote for him.

That, however, is unlikely for I live in Shepparton and he represents the central Sydney-based seat of Wentworth, and for now, as he has indicated his intent to retire.

Malcolm Turnbull

The 56-year-old former investment banker, and journalist, is a considered and articulate man who values reason more than emotion and has that mysterious panache that frequently attaches itself to leaders.
Turnbull became the leader of the national Liberal Party late in 2008 and just over a year later was defeated by Tony Abbott, who continues in that role – although unaware of the accompanying political intrigue, that change in Liberal leadership makes me wonder about what value the Liberals put on reason and intelligence?
A recent free public lecture given by Mr Turnbull at the University of Melbourne attracted about 250 people, many, no doubt, who would have been students of politics, social dynamics and, of course, those interested in the broader machinations of society.
The present Shadow Minister for Communications spoke for about 40 minutes and although the hour-long session was meant to end at 7:30pm, Mr Turnbull was still answering questions at nearly eight o’clock.
The recently retired head of the university’s Centre for Advanced Journalism, Michael Gwenda, closed the conversation and in thanking Mr Turnbull asked for a show of thanks, igniting applause louder than heard at most similar events.
It was Mr Turnbull’s belief in the seriousness of human induced climate change that led to the end of his Liberal Party leadership, despite the fact that many of fellow party members vouched their support.
Listening to Mr Turnbull speak affirmed, in reverse, the Socrates observation that "the unexamined life is not worth living" for he allows nothing by until he has considered and examined the detail.
Interestingly, I do not stand alone in my admiration of Mr Turnbull for beyond most of those who heard the recent lecture - “Politics, Journalism and the 24/7 News Cycle” – there was a visiting professor who had played a senior role in American public life and spoke a few weeks earlier said: “American politics needs someone like Malcolm Turnbull”.
Australians have had their chance to luxuriate in Mr Turnbull’s intelligence, but generally abused that opportunity and rather than have him lead the Liberal Party, and then, hopefully, the country, they have opted for a regression into what he calls “the game” of politics, rather than the examination of and substance of what it is that makes democracy work and the subsequent implications of benefits for all.
Democracy demands many things, among them good journalism, but beyond that it also critically needs thoughtful and visionary fellows such as Malcolm Turnbull.