balance or slight surplus annually from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. In the late 1980s the country experienced a small foreign-trade deficit annually. Major exports are metal ores and scrap, wheat, coal, meat, and wool, principally to Japan and the United States. Major imports are machinery, miscellaneous manufactured products (textiles, paper, and nonferrous metals), transport equipment, and crude petroleum, primarily from the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany.In the past, the Australian economy has revealed itself as moody, rugged, rebellious and magnanimous, in keeping with the way many Australians see themselves. Amid financial market turmoil and the economic ruin and civil strife of neighbors, a bold Australian economy has surged ahead. Again and again, it has defied all odds. By 1998, Despite 8% unemployment, Australian consumers continued to shop, build houses and buy cheaper Asian cars. The stock market hit new highs, enticing more than a million Australians to buy shares for the first time. "The secret of this economic magic is productivity growth, which has been more rapid and sustained than at any time in the last two decades," says John Edwards, chief economist at investment bank HSBC in Sydney. Australia's economy was once exposed to capricious markets and climate, relying on tariffs to keep foreigners at bay. It is now more robust, flexible and export-oriented. The country of almost 19 million people, with a medium-sized economy (comparable to Mexico, South Korea and the Netherlands), can now better withstand shocks such as a currency crisis or trade slump. But, after such a powerhouse fundraiser such as the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia need not worry. Australia and its government has experienced much. It has suffered and triumphed, and has stood the test of time....
