Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Australia really is a lucky country - in economic terms at least

It is raining as I write.

While significant parts of the country are still gripped by drought, recent rains mean that the winter cropping season at least in NSW is now looking the best in years. The bad drought did depress economic activity, but not by sufficient to turn the whole economy down because of the strength of the resources boom. Now some commentators are worried that a rural upsurge on top of continuing resources demand could cause economic overheating.

This drought, while not the worst in our history, was one that affected even city folk because of the threat to water supplies. I don't know whether or not its just the impact of rain in some areas, but some commentators are now talking about a golden age for Australian primary production, the best time for more than forty years.

I did blink at this because the focus has been so much on the threat to the Murray-Darling system. Something else that I must investigate.

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