History of Australian Economics

On January 5^th, we attended a lecture by Evan Jones, who is a retired economics professor from the University of Sydney.  When Australia was first founded, they used the land to house convicts.  After 1788, the area started to be settled by whites traveling from Europe.  Today, most of the immigrants are from the South Pacific, who come to the region for higher education.  At Australia’s beginning, they were in the production of wool, sealing, and whaling.  They would export most of these products to Britain, but they currently export many of their products to China, Japan, Korea, India, and the United States. 

Imperialism is the concept of one nation ruling over another and establishing their economy.  When Australia was ruled by Britain, Britain not only controlled who entered the country, but also controlled the types of imports and exports that went throughout. 

During World War II, Australia had an increased development of their manufacturing sector.   Following the economic boom of the 1950’s, Australia began exporting numerous resources to Japan.  By the mid 1970’s, Australia experienced a major economic crisis and suffered from stagflation.  In the 1980’s, the financial sector expanded and they also experienced manufacturing decay and restructuring.  In the past 20 years, they have started to recover partly because China is now demanding many of Australia’s natural resources.  The economic crisis of 2008/2009 had some effect on Australia, but not nearly as dramatic as the impact it had on United States.

Australia’s GDP has increasing gone up in the past 5 years.  Also, inflation has greatly affected Australia.   In the past year, the Australian dollar has appreciated by 19%.  Australia’s primary trade and finance partners today include China, Japan, and Korea.  Most of what they are exporting is coal, iron ore, and gold.