[LINK] Australia, industrialists warn, has caught a bout of "Dutch Disease"

[Fernando Cassia]

Australia, industrialists warn, has caught a bout of "Dutch Disease"
as China boom turns country "upside-down"

---
Australia, industrialists here warn, has caught a bout of "Dutch
Disease." The term was first used to describe the impact that North
Sea oil discoveries had on the economy of the Netherlands in the
1960s. Energy exports surged -- but so did the Dutch currency, and
much of the manufacturing sector was pummeled.

Down Under, the dizzying boom in exports of raw commodities to Asia
has sent the Australian dollar up nearly 50 percent since 2006: It's
at parity with the U.S. currency today, up from just 70 cents in 2006.

That in turn has pushed up labor and other costs in the manufacturing
sector as skilled workers switch to higher paid jobs in the resource
sector. And for companies like Hammer's, it makes it far tougher to
compete on price with foreign providers of goods and services.

The upshot: an estimated 100,000, or 10 percent, of the nation's
manufacturing jobs have vanished in the past two years, according to
the influential lobby Australian Industry Group. The distortions of
the commodities-dominated economy are dire, AI Group chief executive
Heather Ridout warned in a speech last month.

"They are burning holes in our industrial structure as we speak," she said.

In the age of China, there are now two Australias, many economists and
political leaders here say. One is an explosively growing mining
sector and the businesses and workers that feed it. The other consists
of the manufacturers, tourist spots and others hammered by the
distorting impact of China. There's a phrase for it on nearly
everyone's lips: "the two-speed
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Full story:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/30/us-australia-china-idUSTRE7AT2HY20111130

I´m sure there´s some NBN or internet-related angle that you guys can
discuss here.
:)

FC

-- 
"The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers."
Richard Hamming - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamming_code