Μake us preferred on Google Imagine designing society’s economic rules without knowing whether you would be wealthy or poor, a homeowner or a renter. Would you choose the same rules if you did not know where you would stand?
This is the essence of philosopher John Rawls’s “veil of ignorance”. In A Theory of Justice (1971), Rawls uses the concept of the “original position” to ask what principles of justice we would choose without knowing our place in society. The issue is not equal wealth, but whether institutions secure fair opportunities and ensure that inequalities benefit those least advantaged.
For Australia, this question is increasingly urgent. Foodbank’s Hunger Report 2026 found that one in three Australian households — approximately 3.6 million — experienced food insecurity during the previous year. National prosperity, it seems, does not automatically translate into household security.
The Reserve Bank’s decision on 3 November to raise interest rates for the fifth time this year, taking the cash rate to 4.85 per cent, adds to these pressures. Higher mortgage repayments and rising prices are eroding household purchasing power. As Governor Michele Bullock acknowledged, many Australians feel poorer as incomes struggle to keep pace with living costs. These pressures extend beyond disadvantaged households: many middle-income families are finding home ownership, saving and maintaining their standard of living increasingly difficult.
These concerns will shape Victoria’s 28 November state election. Cost of living, housing, healthcare, community safety and transport are prominent issues. The Victorian Council of Social Service has also emphasised food security, decent work and social inclusion. The broader question is whether public institutions can translate economic resources into tangible improvements in people’s lives.
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating’s emphasis on “growing the economic pie” rested on a simple principle: prosperity must first be created. Productivity, open markets and investment expand economic capacity and opportunity. Yet today, economic growth does not automatically translate into greater purchasing power, affordable housing or financial security. A larger economic pie does not guarantee a larger share for everyone. The challenge is to ensure that growth delivers broadly shared improvements in living standards and opportunity.
Markets remain essential to prosperity, encouraging innovation, investment and efficiency. But they operate within institutions shaped by public choices. Competition policy, transparent regulation and accountable government help prevent economic power and entrenched advantages from restricting opportunity. The choice is not between markets and social justice, but how to make markets work fairly and productively for society.
Economist Mariana Mazzucato develops this argument in The Common Good Economy, forthcoming in Greek. She challenges the assumption that markets should simply be left alone or that governments should intervene only when they fail. Instead, she emphasises how governments and businesses can shape markets through collective action and shared purpose. Economic success should be judged not only by the wealth created, but by the public value it generates.
The comparison with Greece is also instructive. Despite their different economic and institutional circumstances, both countries face questions of economic security and institutional responsiveness. As Yannis Pretenteris observed in a recent To Vima commentary, Greek political debate often neglects citizens’ substantive concerns. When political institutions prioritise competition for power over people’s everyday needs, public confidence weakens. In both countries, economic security and democratic legitimacy depend on institutions that respond to citizens and offer credible opportunities for improvement.
Rawls’s veil of ignorance offers a final test: would we consider our economic institutions fair if we did not know our place within them? It reminds us that prosperity must be judged not only by what an economy produces, but by the opportunities and security it provides.
Australia does not need to abandon markets to address inequality. It needs to renew the promise that once gave economic growth its social purpose: a better life for more people. Growth matters, but so does who benefits. When hard work no longer brings security and opportunity slips beyond the reach of ordinary families, economic progress loses its meaning. The true measure of prosperity is not simply how large the economic pie becomes, but how widely its benefits are shared—and whether each generation can look forward to a better future.
