First the good news
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Above, Europe looks to the barrel toward a new recession, and the United States is unable to free itself from its faltering economy and high unemployment.
Here, the OECD expected a 4% growth in the Australian economy and unemployment of about 5%. Australia is the best-performing country in the world.
How did this happen?
It is easy to underestimate Australia’s success by sitting on top of a massive mine at a time when emerging markets, especially China and India, need everything that Australia can produce.
But it is more than that.
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Since 1983, Australian governments have reshaped the economy and opened it up to compete and capitalize on their strengths. Second, the combination of surpluses and a fast-track Keynesian economy limited the impact of the global financial crisis and collapse in 2008.
What are the changes?
In 2003, the effective protection rate in the manufacturing sector decreased from 35% in the 1970s to 5%. Foreign banks were allowed to compete. Airlines, freight, and telecommunications have been edited. The labor market has moved from the mechanism for fixing federal wages to the economic rationality achieved through negotiations. Taxes were adjusted, corporate and individual income taxes reduced, capital gains tax and goods and services tax introduced, which did not impede productivity.
Do you want falafel with this?
Immigration policies have also been revised. In the 1940s, Australia was 98% Anglo-Celtic, mostly born locally. Today, more than 25% of the population is born outside Australia, coming from more than 120 different countries. This number is only comparable to the name in Israel. European countries appear torn and defined by demographic movements. Countries like Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the UK are finding it challenging to handle the number of migrants, which is around 10%. Resentment, racism, and riots are widespread. By comparison, Australia had a relatively peaceful, if not mixed, coexistence.
Challenges
High-level migration fueled the economy and now contributes over 350,000 people annually to the population. This number is not a misleading figure for government immigration goals, but it represents the net gains for those who come to Australia every year to work and live, compared to those who leave. For these people, regardless of the length of their stay, the infrastructure must be provided for them and their successors.
