Australian Left Review
Article Title
Economic Notes - Fears for Australian manufacturing
Abstract
During July, the daily press carried a number o f warn in gs on b eh a l f o f manufacturing capital about the “ resources boom” that is said to be impending. Readers have had it put to them that Australian manufacturing will be imperilled by the impact of greater exports of raw and processed minerals on the exchange rate, supposedly by increases in wages due to the increased demand for labor by the mining and processing industries, that even the Treasury now admits the need for substantial Australian equity in the resources projects to ensure that some of the profits are retained for some Australians, and that these profits may not be made available for the needed transformation and expansion of the manufacturing sector (beyond, o f course, the inclusion o f processing itself).