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Have you noticed that we have all become economists over the last 30 odd years? That economic-speak has become the lingua-franca of our modern world? We talk about the supply and demand of things, the dollar value of everything, and make all our decisions based upon economic principles to a large degree. This has not always been so. Prior to the American conversion to all things economic, which began with the Rand Corporation in the 1960s, governments and ordinary people did not bang on about economics. Economics is founded upon certain assumptions about individual behaviours driven by self-interest. Indeed, economics is anti-community.
“Between 1945 and 1960, RAND operated as the world’s most productive research organization. Initially envisioned as a research arm of the Air Force, RAND made century-defining breakthroughs both in basic science and applied strategic analysis. Its members helped define U.S. nuclear strategy, conceptualized satellites, pioneered systems analysis, and developed the earliest reports on defense economics. They also revolutionized much of STEM: RAND scholars developed the basics of game theory, linear programming, and Monte Carlo methods. “
Self-Interest Defines Economics
The common good is conveniently left out of most economic modelling. The rationality of economics is completely beholden to this limited idea of maximising utility via self-interest. It means that we are applying the lowest common denominator to our thinking on most things. That the only recognisable factor that we share is our individual self-interest. Me, me, me. The fact that we mostly live in communities is omitted in the economic paradigm. Thus, we ultimately end up with ‘greed is good.’ Is it any wonder that inequity and inequality are on the fastest rise for decades? That we have someone like Trump in the White House? Perhaps, we have reached the nadir of our love affair with economics?
“Any scientific discipline—any theory, formal or informal—rests on assumptions. These assumptions matter, and in the case of social sciences, they influence our vision of society and our policy recommendations… Economics combines positive and normative dimensions, seeking to describe behaviors while evaluating policies. Often adhering to utilitarian principles, economists emphasize preferences, including reconciling short- and long-term interests. They employ the “veil of ignorance” to assess policy fairness, acknowledging challenges in compensating policy losers. Consequentialism, central to economic analysis, evaluates actions based on outcomes.”
Economics Is A Theory
Let us remember that economics is only a theory. It is not fact, and it relies on very limited assumptions about what is defined as rational behaviour. What it has done is encourage a laser focus on our individual wants and aspirations. It has done this to the detriment of community values and what is called the common good. Let us look at America and American culture, as this is the source of the populism of economics. Worshipping at the feet of the great god, Economos. The United States belies its name by emphasising the utility of self-interest and idealising the individual at the expense of community. Would you say that America seems to be a happy place these days? That the people are getting along and revelling in their individual wealth? No, it appears as if the US is a country at war with itself.
Economics Does Not Make You Happy
The focus on economics. The perspective via the economic lens has not served everybody well, it seems. Calculating the dollar worth of every aspect of human life does not appear to have improved the lives of Americans in their own estimation if happiness is a determinator.
“In 2024, for the first time, the World Happiness Report placed the United States outside the top 20. In 2025, it dropped one spot more, ranking 24th. That’s a generational decline for a country long seen as a symbol of opportunity, prosperity, and freedom.
Americans under 30 ranked 62nd in the world for life satisfaction, while those over 60 rank 10th, making them some of the happiest older adults globally. The gap between generations is wide, raising concerns among researchers, policymakers, and public health experts.”
Does Money Make The World Go Around?
An old song told us that ‘money makes the world go around.’ It used to be love; I am told. If all everybody thinks about is what’s in it for me? Will that build a better world or will it, merely, limit the view? If we are all, primarily, concerned with our bottom lines, what will that do for those less fortunate among us? The Trump regime in the US is an attempt to foist Social Darwinism upon the world. You know, only the strong will survive kind of thing. Those like Donald Trump, born with a silver spoon in their mouth from a rich daddy, will thrive at the expense of the rest of us. America has elected a corrupt bunch of billionaires to run their country. What does that say about those voters? Security, their own security matters more to them than anything else, it seems. Authoritarianism feeds on fear and anxiety.
Making A Buck Out Of Everything
Economics is anti-community. It is a theory predicated on self-interest driving the bus of humanity. I do not shy away from acknowledging self-interest as a powerful force, but it is not the only dog in the fight. After 5 decades of bowing down before Economus it is time for another level of understanding. Humanity needs to stand under an entity respectful of community. Us rather than just me. To meet the challenges of global stuff like climate change we cannot do it with economic imperatives founded on individual self-interest. Neoliberal private interests are not capable of dealing with the really big issues facing humanity. The market is not getting it done. The broken corrupt market under leaders like Trump will definitely not get it done. Making a buck out of everything is not a sign that you or we are on the right track.
The Economics Of Intelligence
Money was and is a tool. It is not the be all and end all of everything. AI is supposedly the great saviour of our times for economic productivity. Artificial Intelligence. What is intelligence really? AI tells us_
“Intelligence is the ability to learn from experience, understand complex concepts, reason, plan, solve problems, and adapt to new situations or environments.”
- (Google AI, 2025)
“Early on, Sir Francis Galton (1883), and later, Cattell (1890), believed that intelligence comprises a collection of psychophysical abilities, as measured by tests of one’s power of vision, hearing, touch, and the like. The evidence for this theory was weak even in Cattell’s time. Both Galton and Cattell devised measures of psychophysical of abilities but failed to show any correlation with criteria that were considered at the time, and still are considered by many, to be behavioral”
“human intelligence, mental quality that consists of the abilities to learn from experience, adapt to new situations, understand and handle abstract concepts, and use knowledge to manipulate one’s environment.”
Economics has, for the longest time, acknowledged human labour as one of the main inputs in the whole equation. Automation and now, AI, are reducing that type of input in the productivity measure. Human beings are getting replaced by smarter machines to make things and provide services. We live at a time of great asset appreciation, where property and shares are of much higher value than human beings and their diminishing labour input. Economics has played a key role in the devaluing of humanity and the appreciation of technology. One wonders for how much longer will independent thinking humans sit back and watch what is unfolding to our detriment? Stupid is as stupid does.
Intelligence & Adapting
Economics is anti-community. How are you adapting to the changing situation? Or is it a case of smart phone = dumb human? Have you signed over your intelligence to a ‘so-called’ smart device? Do you really trust the billionaires and oligarchs to have your best interests at heart? Doesn’t economics teach us that everyone is out for themselves? We are being replaced by smart machines and what are the fail safes for us within this economic system? AI looks good on the economic spread sheets because labour costs go down when workers are sacked. Productivity goes up because labour input costs go down. Is this good for you, however? You have lost your income. There is no eye in the sky or overarching intelligence looking out for you or me. Big Tech is running the show and has been for some time now- just look at the stock market. Governments are weak and are just mouthpieces for big business. Democracy is a sham, as political leaders have been bought off years ago. The loudest voices in the room are the corporates with the biggest piggy banks. The political circus is a dumb show played out on TV screens. The deals are done in the backroom.
The Economic Demise Of Union Power
Neoliberalism saw individual workers being bought off in return for slightly higher wages. Union membership was decimated at the same time, as negative campaigns around unionists were spread by right wing politicians and media. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, which controls the media downunder, is not a big fan of unions. Big business basically removed union power from the equation at the end of the 20C. Dealing with individuals is a lot easier in terms of expressions of power than having to deal with a group or body of workers. Lots of little voices don’t make much noise when having to negotiate with large corporations. Labour hire companies were brought in to place another barrier around worker power from the management of corporate entities in many sectors. Mergers and takeovers have seen the creation of duopolies and oligopolies within industries. Competition has been eroded from sectors which has diluted consumer buying power. Capitalism does not work effectively without competition. The concentration of power into the hands of a few very large companies produces profit gouging and lowers wages for workers in the longer term. Economics is anti-community.
If you isolate individuals, you disempower them. Corporations have a huge imbalance of power when dealing with individual workers. Economics, by its definitions, reduces communities to singular units. It encourages us to think only of our own singular appetites and aspirations.
The common good has been devalued by the decades of economic obsession we have all been living through. Neoliberal privatisations of formerly public utilities and assets have seen the greatest transfer of wealth from public to private hands ever seen. Airlines, banks, electricity providers, insurance bodies, hospitals, schools and the like have been turned into ‘for profit’ businesses. We are seeing the issues that this throws up in sectors like childcare, aged care, and health, more generally, where profit seeking businesses do not do the right thing by customers and communities. The Australian government has bailed out Qantas to the tune of billions, despite it being a private business. These companies believe in socialism when it suits them, and large debts are concerned but are all about private investor returns in the good times. The hypocrisy of right-wing politicians and business leaders are there for all to see. The use of economic-speak to justify the enrichment of a small section of the population at the expense of the rest of us is wearing thin. We have all had enough of the game. Economics is anti-community.
Productivity?
“Have you ever thought that you might be being played like a guitar or a puppet on a string? Australia has been on an economic hold for the past few years in response to the high inflation post pandemic. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) steeply raised interest rates to dampen the economy and repeatedly told the community to pull its head in. Understandably, like good citizens we obeyed, and economic growth became sluggish and non-existent. Now, things are better, apparently, with inflation back in their band of acceptability at 2-3%. So, growth is back on the agenda, and the conversation turns to productivity and the national figures. The productivity narrative is a scam.”
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of The Stoic Golfer; Money Matters and America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump.
©MidasWord
