Mining boom far from over, says Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow John Edwards
In a new Lowy Institute Paper released today, Dr John Edwards challenges the prevailing pessimism about the Australian economy.
In Beyond the Boom, published by Penguin Australia, Edwards shows that Australia’s mining boom is far from over – and that it hasn’t been as important to Australian prosperity as widely believed.
‘For all the hype, the mining boom has been but one more episode in Australia’s uninterrupted expansion over more than two decades, and in some respects not the most important one’, said John Edwards.
Edwards argues that much needs to be done to equip Australia to perpetuate its prosperity, but in tackling these challenges Australia comes from a position of strength. He concludes that the future of Australia’s economy won’t be in what Australia digs, but in what it grows, makes and, above all, in the services it provides.
‘Australia has not been living in a fool’s paradise during the mining boom, it has not been complacent. With reasonable care, with attention to its strengths, it will continue to do well’, said Edwards.
Beyond the Boom is the first in a new series of Lowy Institute Papers published in conjunction with Penguin Australia.
‘Each Lowy Institute Paper will make a lively and engaging argument on the biggest international questions facing Australia. Each will also be accompanied by a debate on The Interpreter. We hope that these papers and debates will help thicken the national conversation on the issues shaping Australia’s place in the world’, said Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove.
Beyond the Boom is available in all good book stores, online and as an e-book. Previous Lowy Institute Papers are available at www.lowyinstitute.org/LIP
Lowy Institute board member, Ian MacFarlane AC, will launch Beyond the Boom at the Institute’s Bligh Street headquarters on Thursday 26 June. Media are warmly welcome to attend. Registration details below.
Beyond the Boom launch function
Date: Thursday, 26 June 2014
Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Place: Lowy Institute for International Policy
31 Bligh St, Sydney
RSVP: Please register by 12 noon on Thursday 26 June 2014, to events@lowyinstitute.org
John Edwards
John Edwards is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy. He is an Adjunct Professor with the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy at Curtin University, and a member of the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia. From 1991 to 1994 he was principal economic adviser to Treasurer and then Prime Minister Paul Keating.