Labo(U)R, The Boom and the Prospects for an Alternative to Neo-Liberalism (Essay‪)‬

The election of the Rudd Labor government on November 24, 2007 raised hopes that an alternative policy program to neo-liberalism may be implemented at a federal level. Some have welcomed the prospect of the fruits of the current period of sustained capitalist economic growth being distributed more equitably, directed to more socially just outcomes, and conducted in a socially protective fashion (see for example Langmore 2008). That the abolition of Workchoices was the centre-piece of Labor's successful campaign may well bolster this view. Could the Labor government's victory herald the possibility of an extensive winding back of the neo-liberal transformations of state and economy experienced in Australia over the last three decades? This article examines the prospects for policy alternatives and the way such prospects are constrained by the very factors which underpin the current economic boom. The Foundations of the Boom