Why has Australia escaped the economic crisis? This is the burning question in France at the moment. Economists point to China, which has become the No 1 trading partner of Australia and its demand for commodities but many believe that the fiscal stimulus is the principal reason.
Plantu is a French editorial cartoonist whose work is best known for its frequent appearance in Le Monde. His latest illustration shows singing Australian-flag-waving kangaroos flashing the “V for victory” sign with joeys in their pouches as symbols of retirement savings. ‘Australia escapes the crisis and retirement reform’, says the caption in Plantu’s illustration.
A French economist said, “Australia has without a doubt the prize for excellence in all categories, as much in terms of its debt or deficit”.
This year, Australian national debt will remain below 20 per cent of GDP, according to the International Monetary Fund.
“Australia, the best student of all the industrialized countries”, is one of the most emailed articles on Le Monde’s website.
France is abandoning its traditional scorn for “Anglo-Saxon” methods and turning to the Australian economic “miracle” in the search for solutions. Europe faces its worst debt crisis in decades as the euro plummets to record lows.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is trying to raise France’s retirement age in the second half of his term. His government wants to raise the retirement age to 61 or 62, under reforms discussed well before the current European debt crisis.
“Retiring so young is now untenable given growing life spans”, says President Nicolas Sarkozy, but unions see his planned reforms to France’s over-stretched pension system as yet another blow to Europe’s social model.
“Australia has diversified its economy to guarantee competitiveness”, says the report of the economic mission of the French embassy in Sydney.
“In a post-economic crisis environment, where the debt levels of the majority of industrialized countries are becoming unsustainable, Australia appears like a kind of UFO,” report said.
i heard a lot just about this topic in the last few weeks and i consider it might be true. Eventhough i think everyone is responsible for himself. Just my
When reading this post it reminded me of something I read the other week in a UFO SIGHTINGS Website, would there be any chance I could have the authors email address, Well Written blog thanks for the infomation.