Make Socialism Great Again

There’s a new agenda in town. Known as ‘values based capitalism’, it’s supposedly the brainchild of Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

According to Chalmers, It’s necessary because Labor wants “to change the dynamics of politics, towards a system where Australians and businesses are clear and active participants in shaping a better society”.

I don’t recall Chalmers making the case for ‘capitalism being in crisis’ (his words not mine) and laying out the socialisation of business before the election. This is odd because the examples he uses to justify his treatise are the GFC (2008), the pandemic (2020) and the energy shock (building over a decade or more).

According to the Treasurer, these three events are linked by “vulnerability. In each case our communities, economies, budgets, environment, financial and energy markets, international relationships, and our politics – already fragile enough – became more so.”

Let’s unpack that bucket of nonsense for a moment.