University of Sydney Lecture

We started today at the University of Sydney. Evan Jones is a very qualified man to speak on this subject it felt like everyone in the room was a little smaller while hearing him speak. In the beginning of the colonies on Australia started out exporting to the UK. The main exports consisted of wool, products from whaling, and sealing. Over time ties with the UK have declined and trade with America has increased. Now the Australia’s major exports include coal, iron ore, and education-related travel services according to the packet that Evan Jones handed out for his lecture. Trade had begun with the UK but now has increased to include Japan, USA, and China. Immigration originally began with convicts and other British people and slowly has changed to Asian peoples as well as people coming for work visas immigrating to Australia.  Australia was a country grown out of imperialism, Great Britain extending power over Australia’s land and people.

                During WWII it was a wartime economy. After the war, in the 1950s, there was an economic boom and industry was expanding and an expansion in infrastructure (the Snowy Mountain scheme). Now it has changed into a large exporter and is enjoying an appreciating dollar. GDP has steadily grown; Australia had had a streak of 30 years of economic growth. Due to the recession it has had a brief lapse but has projected growth for 2010. When it comes to inflation Australia has stayed right around a 3% average which is the goal for the US. Australia’s current account has been negative due to a deficit in all accounts (merchandise trade, services trade, income payable, and transfers). Today Australia mainly exports goods to China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, and the United States.