Ee
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Summary
Economic rationalism
(economic rationalist)
Economic rationalism is a term used to summarise the theory or ideology that governments ought not to do things that can be done by markets and that where governments do act, they should do their best to mimic markets. These ideas have been around for a long time as a branch of liberalism. They began to dominate the thinking of public policy makers, academics and commentators in Australia during the 1980s, and have been central to debates about the role of government ever since. Until the 1990s, these ideas had no common Australian name. The publication of Michael Pusey's book Economic Rationalism in Canberra, along with the debate it sparked, helped to establish economic rationalism as the dominant label for efforts to redesign Australian governments along more market-oriented lines.
Economic rationalism can be understood as a reaction to the growth of government activity and taxation in the decades after World War Two. Supporters of this growth argued that it was driven by legitimate responses to social needs, responses that required consistent provision of government goods and services across the country. Opponents challenged such claims to social and bureaucratic rationality, pointing to government waste and inefficiency, the failure of government intervention to solve key social problems, disincentives to work and entrepreneurship caused by government over-regulation and taxation, and government support flowing to powerful interests.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Keywords in Australian Politics , pp. 50 - 64Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006