Australia doesn't need Reagan and Thatcher's neoliberal economics of misery | Van Badham

These economic times demand bold intervention to reconstruct our shattered economy and rebuild Australian workplaces

In 2018, treasurer Josh Frydenberg established a permanent media brand in Australian politics with an unwisely self-produced short video.

It was unexceptional Tory scaremongering about the evils of taxation, but his words weren't why the footage went viral. Audiences were stunned by the direction. In it, the treasurer shuffles down a hill and speaks like a man compelled into performing the script of a hostage video for a killer robot that's cunningly disguised as his own suit.

Related: Economists on the Treasury update: 'the bottom line is we need more stimulus' | Emma Dawson, Chris Edmond and Cherelle Murphy

The enduring success" of the neoliberal era is really measured in how effectively it transferred wealth to the rich

Related: Can we now have a less brain-dead conversation about debt and deficit? | Katharine Murphy