Dry: In Defence of Economic Freedom

Book

How did Australia, which had suffered so much from the two oil shocks of the 1970s, shrug off the "Asian melt-down" of the 1990s so easily?

Dry is an account of the travails, successes and partial setback of an ideal concerning the proper conduct of public policy.

It influenced both sides of partisan politics and was adopted most completely by the Hawke and Kennett Governments.

This book argues that it was not by chance that during the 1990s the long downward trend of Australian's relative living standards was reversed.

This book is available in PDF format

Contents and Editorial Note

1. The Role of Dry Philosophy
2. From Chifley to Whitlam
3. Bert Kelly
4. The Dry Agenda around 1980
5. The think tanks
6. From Tariff Board to Productivity Commission
7. Voices Off Stage
8. The Fraser Years I
9. The Fraser Years II:  The policies, the micro economy and the consequences
10. The Hawke Years I
11. The Hawke Years II
12. From Fraserism to Fightback
13. Keating
14. The Kennett Revolution
15. The Howard Years
16. Backlash
17. Say not the Struggle ...