We have just experienced the biggest resource boom in recorded...

We have just experienced the biggest resource boom in recorded history - and maybe the biggest we will ever have.

With new provinces opening up much closer to Asian markets (Mongolia, Siberia) and stability in countries like Africa, the next boom in the coming decades will be highly competitive - gone are the days of limited nations supplying these resources and leaving the door open for Aussie products to dominate.

As the dust settles after 8 years of massive natural resource sales - where does our country sit and what has it done for us and our quality of life?

I decided to compare our market to one of our greatest natural resource supply competitors - Brazil. Why I did this was to get a brief overview of impacts on the two markets. This analysis could be endless so I stress it is brief. The final results left me concerned as to what has caused such a disparity?

AUSTRALIA:

Low of 2693 on March 13, 2003
High of 6851 on November 1, 2007 - Total Increase 154.40%
Close of 4462 on June 27, 2011 - Current Rise 65.69%



BRAZIL:

Low of 8225 on October 16, 2002
High of 73,920 on May 29, 2008 - Total Rise 798.72%
Close of 61,217 on June 27, 2011 - Current Rise 644.28%




Australia Current Growth: 65.69%

Brazil Current Growth: 644.28%


I am not comparing the two countries per say, just pondering the impact both counties experienced from the resources boom and the obvious global market influences.

Australia is portrayed as a leading economic power but our market tells a distinctly different story. Where would we be today without these mega boom dollars if all we can achieve is a measly 69% growth result in 8 years? Where would we be if this boom did not exist?

Without comparing the two vastly different economic sectors of the two countries and their major differences, it is obvious Brazil has benefited significantly from the resources boom to the tune of a current 644% increase in market value to date.

The two charts do have a correlation in movement due to the resources boom but this stopped around the end of 2008.

Sure our dollar is up over 100% in value compared to the $US dollar (55c to 110c USDAUS), but the Brazilian Real sits at the same 100% increase since 2003 (30c to 60c USDBRL).

Maybe Brasil was massively undervalued in 2003 or maybe it is massively overvalued now? Maybe the Australian market is undervalued now?

Are our taxes too high? Are our wage structures too high? Is our cost of living structure too expensive? Are we structuring ourselves poorly and missing out on these major wealth benefits for our long term quality way of life?

All I know is that we are not enjoying the spoils of a nearly decade long boom that this country has been established upon. This wealth creation is obvious in other countries - what about ours? The resource boom will soon be gone and not to return for decades! Australia - Where Is Our Wealth?