How Australia squandered the mining boom The unbridled power of the mining lobby combined with short-term populist politics means Australia is ending its historic mining boom little better off than when it started. Australia failed to capitalise on a once-in-a-lifetime mining boom because politicians put short-term vote-winning policies ahead of the long-term interest of the nation, economists say. The private interests of the powerful mining lobby were equally to blame for the squandering of a golden opportunity to strengthen Australia’s economic future. An unprecedented boom in demand for commodities – mainly from China – saw Australian exports of iron ore and coal skyrocket in the early 2000s. But rather than use the associated tax revenue to strengthen the non-mining sectors in preparation for the inevitable end of the boom, the Howard government passed the savings straight to households in the form of income tax and superannuation tax concessions, a move which Labor supported. “I’ve never seen something so squandered in my life,” says Mr Richard Robinson, associate director of economics at BIS Shrapnel. Continue reading >>> bit.ly/1E55lJ9
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 21:30:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015