You don't think either of those had the potential to set Australia back in a big way if things weren't managed well??? See - this is the problem. Manage things well and the world carries on oblivious. #### it up and everybody notices.
Have a look how it effected much of Asia.
I studied it. Australia did exceptionally well at the time thru good judgement and economic practice.
Please excuse the lengthy post, but this is one paragraph from a speech made by Alexander Downer at the time regarding the 'Asian Crisis'. The speech in its entirety can be found
HERE.
Please note, he has not at any point claimed that any direct action whatsoever was taken to avoid problems caused by crisis. Instead, he has pointed out that
'This solid performance was due to good growth in exports to the United States and EU in particular, as well as to a range of emerging markets.'
and followed up with
'At the same time, Australians have benefited from the best economic fundamentals for a generation.'
Of course, he places the medals for these economic conditions on his own governments chest, as any government would, but the fact remains that the entire Western world was doing very nicely, thank you. A catastrophic mistake would have been very hard to make under the conditions at the time.
You have to admit, this doesn't sound like they were struggling to keep their heads above water. You simply cannot compare this event with the GFC, as you have.
... Alexander Downer, Australian Foreign Minister, 1998 ...
How Australia has fared
Australia's close economic interdependence with East Asia means that our trade is inevitably affected by the regional downturn.
In 1997-98, Australia's merchandise exports to East Asia - $47.2 billion - actually increased by 5.5 per cent over the previous year. But Australia's merchandise exports to the region declined sharply in the first two months of 1998, contributing to a downturn of 5 per cent in the first eight months of this calendar year compared with the same period in 1997.
The outlook remains very clouded, although since May we have seen monthly exports to the region pick up slightly, in trend terms, on the strength of good export sales to Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Good sales to some smaller regional markets, like Vietnam, have also defied the downward trend. Now, the latest trade statistics for September indicate a flattening of the trend. Clearly, the continuing volatility of East Asian economies means we must remain cautious about assessing these trends.
While our exports to East Asia have declined, Australia's merchandise imports from the region have been climbing. Most of the increase has been in manufactured items, but because many of the items concerned are not produced in Australia our consumers and producers are benefiting from the lower prices - a fact reflected in the latest excellent quarterly figure for inflation. Nevertheless, in some areas, such as apparel and paper, domestic producers are facing increased competition from East Asian exporters.
Australia's overall trade performance has, despite the East Asian crisis, held up remarkably well. Our exports of goods and services in 1997-98 grew by 8.2 per cent over 1996-97. Merchandise exports grew by 9.3 per cent and services exports by 4.6 per cent. And we are maintaining modest growth this year. The figures released last Friday indicate that for the first nine months of 1998 we have registered an increase of 2.7 per cent in the export of goods and services over the same period in 1997. Abstracting from factors such as the one-off gold sale by the Reserve Bank in 1997, merchandise exports were up 6.9 per cent in the same period.
This solid performance was due to good growth in exports to the United States and EU in particular, as well as to a range of emerging markets. Overall, exports to non-East Asian markets rose by 22.9 per cent compared to the previous financial year, justifying the strong effort made by the Government since coming to office in 1996 to encourage greater market diversification by Australian businesses.
At the same time, Australians have benefited from the best economic fundamentals for a generation. Interest and inflation rates that Generation X-ers had thought were fanciful exaggerations that only their parents made. Levels of growth amongst the world's highest. A budget that is in very healthy surplus.
What we have through our example been showing the region, and the world, is that commitment to economic reform and liberalisation can help a country withstand serious economic shocks. Our ability to avoid the worst of the economic trends in our region and be in a position to offer our neighbours a helping hand is proof enough of that. It underlines the Government's commitment to reform and to keeping markets open.
Not saying you do but I could imagine you getting verbal at the TV and the thought makes me lol.