2 ms·
Completely untrue. Australia economic growth only got going after trade liberalisation was properly implemented and removal of tariffs. Further, the improveme
by brc 15y ago
Completely untrue. Australia economic growth only got going after trade liberalisation was properly implemented and removal of tariffs.
Further, the improvements in living standards are directly attributable to lower cost imported goods.
There are still pockets of protectionism around, but in world terms these are quite small. There is nothing like the agricultural protectionism of the US and EU, for example.
I do agree with you that luck has a lot more to do with it than good management.
- JamisonM 15y agoI was not clear in my original posting, what I really meant to say was the trade liberalization was very good to Australia because it needs market access and geography provides a natural barrier to local market access. Removing Australian tariffs on goods was beneficial to other countries but the reciprocation was worth a lot more to the Australian economy because it produces so much that it absolutely must export (or leave in the ground/waste). For example if you are Japan trading access to the car market in Australia for unencumbered steel imports Australia wins, Japan needs a lot more steel for their manufacturing base than Australian consumers will ever need Japanese cars. (Yes, that example is a bit contrived, but I think it demonstrates my point.)