Australia’s economy: Good on you

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Uberworld

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Australia’s economy

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SYDNEY

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Girder on you, too

Girder on you, too

THE last time Australia was in recession, Mikhail Gorbachev led the Soviet Union and Donald Trump had filed for Chapter 11 only once. Barring unforeseen catastrophe, late next year Australia will pass the Netherlands’ modern record of 26 years of consecutive growth—despite the slowdown of its biggest trading partner, China. Unlike most of the rich world, it sailed through the global financial crisis, and unlike most commodity exporters, it has weathered the raw-materials price slump. Its GDP growth rate of 3.1% dwarfs that of America and the euro zone.

Australia is often called “the lucky country”, and luck, particularly in geology and geography, has played a part in its success. But it has deftly played both sides of the China boom: the surging demand for raw-material imports while that lasted; more recently, the desire of the ...