AUSTRALIA'S ECONOMIC PROWESS

Which country will have no government debt within a year, contributed the most to help those in need after the tsunami, and was described by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development as a "model for other countries", America or Australia? You've guessed it. Australia. For so long simply seen as an adventure playground for gap year students or a breeding ground for sportsmen, Australia has now graduated into the world of big players....

The Australian economy is now in the 15th year of the longest economic expansion in 50 years - perhaps, according to John Howard, the Prime Minister, "the longest since the gold rushes of the 19th century". Today this continent, much of it desert, ranks 53rd in terms of world population, but is the world's 13th largest economy; eighth in the world in income per head from 18th two decades ago.

John Howard (and to be fair, in some areas such as currency deregulation, his predecessor Bob Hawke) practised what he preached: the foundation of a nation's success is economic growth, and that growth is rooted in economic stability, free trade and rewarding hard work and investment. Out went tariff protection. It was no use hiding under the duvet, hoping that the growling Asian tigers on our doorstep would disappear. "Bring 'em on," became the Australian warcry. Down came the national debt and borrowing. Australia's net debt position has fallen from 20 per cent of GDP to 1.3 per cent. And within a year, Australia will have no net government debt at all. Read that again: no debt. Down from $96 billion to zero in a decade....

The burden on the private sector fell, helping it to create more jobs - more than 1.5 million new jobs since 1996 alone. Not bad for a country of just 20 million people. Today, unemployment is at a 30-year low - and inflation is under lock and key despite high oil prices.

Much more here

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FROM BROOKES NEWS

What should we expect from Bernanke now that he is the Fed's chairman? : Why Bernanke's policy of stabilizing prices will generate a boom-bust situation
Liberal Party stuffs up its workplace reform arguments against the unions: Why has the Liberal Government failed to persuade the electorate that reform is good? Because disdainful arrogant economic illiterates have been in charge. This article lays out the case for reform by demolishing the unions' argument
How capital gains taxes retard economic growth: Shows how capital gains taxes damage economic growth by sapping investment and punishing success
The Great Depression and the paradox of thrift - another Keynesian fallacy: It is nonsense to claim that the Great Depression was caused by excess savings. The evidence flatly contradicts this view
Scooter Libby v Fitzblooey: a 'crime' against the process: Is it now normal practice for prosecuting attorneys to allege a crime and then set traps to elicit falsehoods upon which they can then indict a target without having to prove a crime was committed?
Iranians boycott regime's anti-Jewish rally: The Iranian regime's vicious anti-Jewish rally was ignored by the vast majority of Iranians
Mugabe unleashes his fanatical thugs against the poor: Mugabe has unleashed his infamous 5th Brigade on the poor. Having learnt well from their North Korean mentors the 5th Brigade murdered, tortured, and raped about 20,000 Zimbabweans in the early '80s

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