Australia must aim for growth, not redistribution

Former senior Australian Treasury official David Pearl gave a fantastic interview on the John Anderson podcast where, among other things, he highlighted how economic policy in Australia has lost focus on growing the economy via productivity improvements and has become increasingly reliant on government spending and interference to drive growth.

Below are some key highlights:

“I came of age in the 1980s and ’90s when Australia shook off the protectionist model and we had modernising governments of both the left and the right who substantially agreed on the vision of Australia they were trying to achieve. And it was one where markets and individuals with incentives would allocate resources, but with a government that would secure national security but also legal rights and provide a safety net for those who are displaced by globalisation by shifts in the economy”.