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People sometimes tease me for not thinking the economy is
important. It's not that I think it's unimportant. But I do think we place too
much emphasis on it. And I think often decisions are made as if economic growth
was the most important aim, when there are other things that are far more
important. We've prioritised the economy over well-being, when it should be the
other way around.
Let's take two policy decisions by the Labor Government recently.
The first is the decision to take all single parents off Parenting Payment
when their youngest child turns eight and place them on Newstart instead.
Newstart is not enough to live on - so it forces these parents into any work
they can find - and their choices are limited because of their child-caring
responsibilities.
From an economic perspective, this makes sense. On one hand, you can hand
out money to parents to stay at home. On the other hand, you force people into
working so they're not only contributing to the economy with their labour, but
also through paying for child are and more consumer spending.
However, is the economy really the most important thing here? Shouldn't the
most important thing be the health and well-being of our children. I was lucky
enough to be able to work from home until just recently, when my youngest was
11. And while we may not have had much money, what we did have was way more
precious - time together. I'm not saying all parents should stay at home until
their children finish primary school. But I do believe those that want to should
be encouraged. No, they don't contribute as much to the economy, but they
contribute an awful lot to the well-being of their children and often the wider
community.
The next area is refugees. I received something in my mailbox the other day
about how much illegal boats are costing us. We've reduced real people who are
hurting and suffering to a dollar figure. If the economy is the most important
thing, then maybe this makes sense. But it's a sad world we live in, if that's
the thing that matters most.
Compassion is never cheap. In dollar terms, what we spend when we're
compassionate will often exceed what we receive. But in well-being terms, what
we receive is priceless. Being compassionate does have benefits - not only to
those who are helped, but to those who are helping.
And if we remove the economic focus, let's look at what refugees bring to
Australia. Not only do they bring the opportunity for us to show compassion,
they bring their lives, their culture and their stories. They bring the
opportunity to enrich the lives of all those who come into contact with them.
Surely that's worth something!
The other problem I have with economic growth is that it can suggest that
it is only economic transactions that are important. Health, love, enjoyment,
nature - all are seen in dollar terms. Instead of weddings being seen as a
chance to celebrate love and begin a life together, they're huge events that
require lots of consumer spending. Weight management, match-making and
Eco-tourism are huge industries. A hug, a giggle, a walk in our local
neighbourhood don't contribute to economic growth. But if someone can find a way
to make money out of them, they will.
And does consumer spending really equal happiness? How much of what we buy
is actually making our lives better? And often our buying is a reflection of
things that are wrong, not how happy we are. Yesterday I spent money on a pillow
for my sore neck and medication. Yes, they contributed to my well-being - but
I'd say the conversation I had with my sons in the evening probably had more to
say about my general well-being that my consumer spending did.
The economy is important. We need money to provide the basic services that
people need. And there's nothing wrong with wanting Australians to have good
lifestyles beyond those basic services. But growing the economy shouldn't be the
ultimate goal. Improving the well-being of people should. The economy is just a
tool to help us do that. When people's well-being suffers because it's not good
for the economy, then something is wrong.
