It’s not a good time to be an economic rationalist, a small-l liberal, a libertarian, a neo-liberal, a Keating-Labor technocrat, a classical liberal or a small-government conservative. The curves of history have shifted, temporarily at least, away from smaller government and incentive-based policy to paternalistic economic virtue signalling. That’s the broad summary of the 17 essays in this collection.

Contributors from both sides of the political aisle, journalists, academics, and business leaders have collectively made the case for the use of markets and incentives to solve some of the major policy challenges we face as a country. These include climate change and energy, childcare, the tax system, the size of government, housing, trade and higher education.

The goal of this collection is twofold. First, to gather the combined input of original thinkers representing the broad swath of the free-market polity in Australia, from centre-left rationalists to libertarian ideologues, and highlight the common thread that aligns them, namely the belief that ceteris paribus, markets are a more efficient tool for the allocation of resources than political decision making. Second, to present challenging and original thinking on our country’s problems and how to solve them. Too often, these books can be tired, uninspiring affairs, more likely to have been ripped from a recent media release than represent any original or bold proposal.

The latter is most sharply achieved in Gigi Foster and Paul Frijters’ essay. Foster and Frijters take on the political establishment, proposing citizen juries as a tool to appoint senior public servants. This would end political appointments, removing a key cog in the ‘favour exchanges’ that entrench vested interests in our political economy. 

Free-market reform is usually considered through the prism of federal politics as big-ticket items like GST, corporate tax, trade and industrial relations sit under federal jurisdiction. However, most successful reform in the last 15 years has taken place at the state level. Consider the achievements of the New South Wales Coalition Government compared to the federal Coalition Government. Additionally, there is substantial opportunity for reform at the state level. This is why the election of Evan Mulholland and Chris Rath to parliaments in Victoria and New South Wales is encouraging. Mulholland makes the case for a more compassionate approach to criminal justice, easing the burden on the taxpayer and improving people’s lives in the process. Rath breaks down a plan to dismantle stamp duty and payroll tax, two viciously inefficient taxes levied at a state level.

No issue has loomed larger over politics in the last 15 years than climate and energy policy. A toxic combination of populism and vested interests has pulled down three prime ministers and resulted in the implementation of a confusing mix of carrots and sticks, instead of a significantly more elegant emissions trading scheme, attempting to lower our carbon emissions while maintaining reliable and affordable energy production. Craig Emerson, Gisele Kapterian and Andrew Bragg outline different market-based solutions to efficiently address this policy trilemma. Given the scope of the energy transition required, and the potential social cost, getting the policy settings right here is crucial.

After climate change, housing policy has the most potential to reshape society and our economy. An economy where the best predictor of your future living standards is how much property your parents bought in metropolitan Sydney or Melbourne 20-plus years ago is not a healthy one. Aaron Patrick outlines the case for increasing housing supply and population density as the only realistic pathway to dealing with this challenge and the political roadblocks and opportunities in the way. Patrick’s cutting reminder of the temporal nature of political parties and the potential terminal state of the Liberal Party is particularly compelling.

Childcare is a key driver of financial anxiety for young families. Skyrocketing prices and faltering availability are making it harder for families to make ends meet. Jane Buncle reviews the current state of childcare policy in Australia and identifies potential solutions to improve results for children and parents.

Andrew Low highlights Australia’s remarkable economic success off the back of substantial economic reform in the 1980s and 90s and some of the underappreciated features of our economy. However, he is a notable outlier compared to the more pessimistic contributions of Jason Falinski, Gerard Rennick, Tom Switzer and Chaneg Torres, who take a similarly big-picture approach. Falinski outlines the litany of challenges Australia faces and bemoans our political inability to challenge them. Switzer documents the collapse of economic liberalism in the western world and identifies four priorities for policymakers to reverse the trend. Torres details the Liberal Party’s descent from small-government liberalism and conservatism to paternalistic populism, charting a course back to majority government that includes embracing the socially conservative and socially progressive sections of the Australian polity. Rennick takes aim at childcare, superannuation and tax policy and the vested interests profiting in a maze of regulation.

Higher education policy is complicated but consequential. Andrew Norton clearly outlines the recent history of higher education reform and the need to balance the social goal of more graduates with the financial constraints. Norton highlights tactical changes to improve outcomes for students and universities.

Protectionism, disguised as industry policy, is in vogue again. Georgina Downer breaks down the legacy of Sir Robert Menzies in dismantling Australia’s trade barriers. Nowhere has the political centre of gravity moved more sharply than in trade policy, Downer’s essay is a timely reminder that our prosperity hangs on the opening of our economy to competition.

The politics of “spending cuts” has become one of the more pernicious forces in economic policy. Governments are judged on how much they spend on key services, not how well they spend it. Robert Holt proposes a new approach to measuring the effectiveness of government spending. Improving the quality of government spending should be a permanent focus of our political class, not an afterthought. Equipping voters with a framework to evaluate how governments use their tax dollars is a novel approach to doing so.

I used my chapter to tackle the notion that the supposed era of neo-liberal supremacy (the 1980s through to now) has resulted in the hollowing out of the middle class and a fall in real living standards in the west. On the contrary, globalisation has reduced the cost and increased the quality of goods like food, clothing and technology while goods primarily subsidised, distributed or regulated by the government, housing, childcare, and energy, have increased in cost.

History moves quickly. During this book’s production, inflation evolved from a ‘transitory’ concern to an entrenched force at generational highs, leaving central banks scrambling to respond. While it may not be a good political climate for market rationalists, it doesn’t change the empirical evidence supporting the superiority of incentives and price signals to government decision-making. It may take sustained stagflation, or another economic crisis, for markets to become du jour again, until then, it’s important for the continued development of innovative solutions to our most challenging problems. I hope this collection of essays contributes to that.

Harry Stutchbury is a Management Consultant at Kearney. He has previously worked as an adviser for Liberal members of parliament and as Deputy Director of the Blueprint Institute.