aug monday, page-69

Are we (Australia) decoupling from USA ?

Well... I think we are, and have been doing so for the past two decades, at least. Yes, it is a slow process and has a fair way to go yet.
People are resistant to change, it is instinct. But the environment (natural and economic) is forever changing, and those whom refuse to change will become extinct. That is the law of nature, like it or not.
The media's economic pundits can spout out the USA indices all they like, but, the numbers speak for themselves, Asia is where it is at.

So why have the Australian indices not followed the USA indices of late, esp. the Dow Jones industrial 30 average ?

Let us take a look at some numbers that may reveal why Australian exporters have their eye on China, Japan, India, S.Korea and host of others.

^[1]Here are some merchandise export trade figures by country(in monetary terms) for the year ended 30 June 2010 :

China $46 billion(b)
Japan $37b
S.Korea $16.5b
India $16b
New Zealand $8b
UK $7b

...and the
USA $9.5b
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All great empires come to an end.
They are created by greed; they are destroyed by greed.
Greed is the greatest moderator of them all.


[1] International Trade in Goods and Services, June 2010 , Australian Bureau of Statistics table 14, p29 (PDF 916KB)