How the mining boom juiced the Aussie economy

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The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) last week released a detailed analysis and modelling to show how the mining boom has positively impacted the Australian economy.

According to the RBA, the mining boom is estimated to have boosted real per capita household disposable income by 13% over the decade to 2013, with positive impacts also on real wages, employment, consumption, and construction. However, the agricultural and manufacturing industries have suffered from the higher exchange rate:

The world price of Australia’s mining exports more than tripled over the 10 years to 2012, while investment spending by the mining sector increased from 2 per cent of GDP to 8 per cent. This ‘mining boom’ represents one of the largest shocks to the Australian economy in generations…

ScreenHunter_5695 Dec. 24 11.20
ScreenHunter_5694 Dec. 24 11.20

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.