In the 1960s, most Australians got their politics from newspapers. Today the dominant source is television. Back then, the duration of the typical political soundbite on television was forty-three seconds. Today it is seven seconds. Increasingly, political communication has moved off the page and onto the screen—where it is reported in phrases rather than paragraphs. The media cycle has turned into a media cyclone. 

Like most economists, the way I look to explain major social changes is not by focusing on the behaviour of particular individuals, but by looking for shifts in policy or technology. In the case of our public debate, the most significant shift is not in the aptitude of our parliamentarians, but in the environment in which we operate.