Dead Right: How Neoliberalism Ate Itself and What Comes Next: Quarterly Essay 70

In this passionate essay, Richard Denniss argues for a more pragmatic, consultative politics. He asks whether the major parties can find a new, and persuasive, way to talk about the national interest.

How did the banks run wild for so long? Why are so many aged-care residents malnourished? And how is it that arms manufacturers sponsor the Australian War Memorial?

In this passionate essay, Richard Denniss explores what neoliberalism has done to Australian society. For decades, we have been told that the private sector does everything better, that governments can’t afford to deliver the services they once could, but that security and prosperity for all are just around the corner. In fact, Australians are less equal, and more of us are economically vulnerable. But now that a royal commission has lifted the rug on the reality of corporate regulation, it seems the era of blind faith in free markets is well and truly over.

So where to from here? In Dead Right, Denniss looks at ways to renew our democracy and discusses everything from the fragmenting Coalition to an idea of the national interest that goes beyond economics.
“Neoliberalism, the catch-all term for all things small government, has been the ideal cloak behind which to conceal enormous shifts in Australia’s wealth and culture . . . Over the past thirty years, the language, ideas and policies of neoliberalism have transformed our economy and, more importantly, our culture.“
Richard Denniss, Dead Right

Author Biography

Richard Denniss is chief economist at the Australia Institute. He writes for the Monthly, the Canberra Times and the Australian Financial Review. His books include Curing Affluenza, Econobabble and (as co-author) Affluenza.