Economic optimism should be recognised as a strategic economic asset to help drive the investment, innovation, enterprise and productivity needed for future prosperity.
Centre for Optimism COO Victor Perton today called on governments, businesses and institutions to recognise the importance of economic optimism and pay greater attention to whether people believed they had the opportunity and capacity to build a better future.
Mr Perton was speaking at the International Association for Peace and Economic Development forum.
He said economic confidence was not simply about how people felt about the future, but whether they had the confidence to act on the opportunities before them.
"People invest, create, employ, learn and cooperate when they believe the future will be better than the present," he said.
"Optimism is not simply about feeling positive. It gives people the confidence to act before certainty arrives. Virtually every decision to invest, innovate, start a business, learn new skills or take a prudent risk requires that confidence."
Mr Perton said research was strengthening the economic case for optimism. A 2024 international study covering 42 mainly OECD countries found evidence that economic optimism supported innovation activity and economic performance, with producer optimism particularly important for productivity.
He said this reinforced work undertaken with economist Dr Anand Kulkarni and strategist Robert Masters AM in developing The Optimism Economy: A National Framework for Economic Optimism, which argues that forward-looking confidence can contribute to productivity, innovation and sustainable economic growth.
Mr Perton said the challenge was particularly important because of an emerging "optimism gap" in developed democracies, where people could remain optimistic about their own lives while becoming increasingly pessimistic about the direction of their country.
"In Australia, 59 per cent of people surveyed by Ipsos in June said the country was on the wrong track, yet around two-thirds of Australians remained optimistic that 2026 would be a better year for them personally," he said.
"That gap matters. A country needs people who can see credible possibilities ahead and believe their actions can make a difference."
Mr Perton said governments could not manufacture optimism, but they could help create the conditions in which realistic optimism flourished through opportunity, trustworthy institutions, investment and credible pathways to a better future.
"Governments should give people greater opportunity to build a better future through real pathways to work, learning, ownership, enterprise and participation. Business should invest in people, skills, innovation and ideas that create future opportunity," he said.
"Leadership also matters. Optimistic leadership does not ignore difficulty or promise certainty. It faces reality, identifies what remains possible and gives people confidence that they can help shape what comes next."
Mr Perton said the economics of optimism ultimately extended beyond conventional measures of economic performance to wellbeing, social cohesion, democracy and peace.
"The deeper test of a successful economy is whether people are better able to live well today and believe they can build a better tomorrow."
Mr Perton said this principle was captured in The Optimism Principle, developed with Centre Chair Robert Masters AM:
"The answer to life's most pressing questions is optimism."
