521. The Australian growth miracle: An evolutionary macroeconomic explanation

John Foster,  School of Economics Discussion Paper No. 521 May 2014, School of Economics, The University of Queensland.

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Abstract

The purpose of this article is to understand the drivers of Australian economic growth since its Federation in 1901. Australia is an interesting case study given that it seems not to have been affected by the ‘natural resource curse’ like many other natural resource dependent countries. Indeed, at time of writing, it has been 23 years since it experienced a recession and its GDP per capita is now amongst the very highest in the World. At the end of the 19th Century it also had one of the highest per capita incomes in the World and, although there were economic difficulties between the World Wars, it did not fall into relative economic decline like, for example, Argentina, also a European immigrant country producing and exporting natural resources.