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AUSTRALIA - economic overview

Lecture 6

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AUSTRALIAeconomic overview

1. Economic trends &patterns

2. Principal factors of change - POSITION

3. Economic cycles

4. Internal & external influences

5. International positioning

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1. Economic trends & patterns

• AUSTRALIA : a prosperous nation– GDP– Natural resources– Imports and exports– protectionism– International dependence– Adapting to globalisation

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2. AUSTRALIA’s position

– Source : Le dessous des cartes

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Prosperous but fragile• AGRCULTURAL ISSUES

– Wheat & cereals– wool– wine

• MINING– gold– Bauxite (aluminium)– uranium– Natural gas & oil

• THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR– Steel works & shipping– Car industry– Textile industry

• THE TERTIARY SECTOR– Transports & tourism

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Natural resources

Source : Le dessous des cartes

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3. Economic cycles

• POST WW2 : THE BOOM PERIOD– Boosting primary and secondary industries: => reconstruction

& a new consumer society

• 1970s– The beginning of economic decline linked to a world recession

• 1980s– The emergence of the impacts of globalisation

• 1990s– repositioning AUSTRALIA in Asia

• 21st CENTURY– Ambitioning as a regional world player– Unaffected by 2008 GFC (global financial crisis)

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3. now

• From the tyranny of distance to the advantage of adjacency– New markets (China, Japan, India & D. Korea)– Plenty of resources => minerals boom– Gas => Gorgon project in Western Australia – Iron ore => steel to build Asian cities and infrastructures– => prosperity– BUT– Also pushing up the value of the Australian dollar– Therefore making it expensive for:– foreign tourists– Foreign students– Wine industry

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4. Internal & 5. external influences

• POST WW2 : the MENZIES era (1939-41, 1949-66)– Protectionism, loyalty to GB, anti-communism

• The return of the ALP (Australian Labor Party)• Important politicians

– Gough WHITLAM (1972-75)– Bob HAWKE (1983-1996)– FRASER (1975-1983)– KEATING (1983-1996)– John HOWARD (1996-2007)– Kevin RUDD (2007-2010)– Julia Gillard (24/6/10-

• The issues– Fighting the cultural cringe in the 1970s –

(1973 Patrick White, Nobel prize for literature – The tree of Man)Schindler’s list by Thomas Kenally // Bee Gees, INXS, AC/DC

– implementing the FAIR GO (justice, workers’ heaven)– Adapting to a global world – Re-thinking Asia

• Customers – friends– Imports / exports

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5. International positioning

AUSTRALIAN lessons (to be taught / learnt):

• POLITICAL: – Close to or far from (Asia or USA)

• ECONOMIC:– Mining for big customers (China)– Asian partners

• ENVIRONMENTAL – to think green or to be green?– Coal for power?– Water for agriculture (like California?)– Uranium sold to whom?– Green tourism

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AUSTRALIA’s interests

– Source : Le dessous des cartes