Economic reform: The revolution the little people lost

The consensus is that there is a crisis in Australian democracy. But it's a strange sort of consensus, because while most agree that a democratic crisis exists, few agree on its nature and causes. To some the democratic crisis is a crisis of idealism, caused by populists, pollsters and powerbrokers preventing the nation from welcoming refugees, legalising same-sex marriage, stopping climate change and so forth. To others, it is a crisis of short-termism, caused by the speeding up of the media cycle, which is making long-range policymaking impossible. But perhaps the most serious claim is that our democracy is suffering a crisis of vision - or, more accurately, a crisis of economic leadership.