Write an essay about Australian economic.

The first decade of the twenty-first century (the 2000s) saw mining regain prominence, particularly as the price of many mineral products rose sharply, resulting in an increase in the terms of trade not seen for over a century. The profitability of mining led to a ‘mining boom’, manifested not only to an increase in highly profitable mining activity but to a boom in other sectors of the economy linked to mining and in particular to mining-related investment.

However, while mining served as a positive stimulus to economic development, the ‘mining boom’ also – somewhat paradoxically – adversely affected other, export-oriented, sectors of the economy to the point where sectors of the economy that had expanded following the microeconomic reforms of the 1980s and 1990s actually declined (the percentage of exports represented by manufacturing and service such as education actually falling from the levels reached during the 1990s). The proximate cause of this was the sharp appreciation in the value of the $A resulting from the demand for $As to buy resources.

When the ‘mining boom’ (or more particularly the boom in mining-related investment) ended in the early 2010s and the price of mineral products (notably coal and iron ore) fell from their unprecedentedly high levels in the 2000s, a further period of subdued economic activity ensued.

The period is also complicated by what has been termed the ‘global financial crisis’, one of the main implications of which was a worldwide recession and fall in demand for Australian exports, particularly natural resources. While Australia avoided the recession that was typical of most comparable countries (and indeed by about 2011 was treating the GFC as something of a ‘blip’) the longer-term effects are still working themselves out.

The course of development in the early 2010s is also clouded by the fact that the future demand for the commodity that is Australia’s second largest export commodity – coal – is uncertain. There is increasing reluctance in many countries to use the commodity for generating power given the greenhouse gases emitted as a consequence.