Governing in the public interest: business is not the basic source of prosperity or jobs

Suppose our political leaders come to realise that all economic activity is underpinned by public institutions, not corporations. The consequences for policy would be profound, writes Geoff Edwards.

There is a simple reason why our political leaders repeatedly assert that business is the engine of the economy and that piling tax cuts and gifts onto business is the most effective way of stimulating economic activity. The reason is that the public institutions on which the economy really depends have worked so effectively for so many decades that their contribution to commercial activity is comprehensively overlooked.