Op-Ed

‘Australian Capitalism’: Jim’s philosophising swells rivers of sorrow

February 4, 2023

EXCERPT

Jim Chalmers, Treasurer of Australia, has used his summer to produce a paean to statism. Chalmers’ essay, Capitalism after the Crises, offers a new way forward, allegedly one urgently needed if Australia is to navigate the awaiting catastrophe of the 21st Century’s third decade. The new Australian capitalism, he says, will not be like the old one – the one whose chief proponent, Paul Keating, was the subject of Chalmers’ doctoral dissertation.

The Treasurer begins with some philosophy from Heraclitus, who, Chalmers matter-of-factly tells us, once wrote in a book stored in a temple that, ‘No man ever steps in the same river twice.’ What Heraclitus actually said is unknown, because there are no extant copies of his work. Heraclitus’ alleged claims are only those reported by Plato and others. Still, removed from context and regurgitated glibly, it’s enough for the Treasurer to justify his entrance stage left as the great captain of economic reform, called forth by the storms of history to right a listing ship of state.

Ben Crocker is a research fellow for Common Sense Society, in Washington DC. His Substack is Crocker’s Columns.

Originally published in Spectator AU.

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