Too Much Luck: The Mining Boom and Australia's Future

by Paul Cleary

We think we are the lucky country, but what we really have is dumb luck - too much luck, more than we know what to do with.' - Paul Cleary In Too Much Luck, Paul Cleary shows how the resource boom, which seems a blessing, could well become a curse. We have never seen a boom quite like this one. Under - taxed and under - regulated, multinational companies are making colossal profits by selling off non - renewable resources. New projects are being rushed through weekly, but who is looking out for the public interest? As the boom accelerates, it will drive the dollar higher and higher, and force up the cost of doing business for everyone else. Industries that involve many jobs, such as tourism and education, will fade away. What happens if commodity prices suddenly collapse, as they have in the past? Or worse, when the resources run out? Many countries before us have been caught by the resource a heady period of boom and growth, followed by a painful bust. Paul Cleary maps out the pitfalls, counts the human and environmental costs, shows what has worked overseas and suggests a better way forward - one which would turn this one - off windfall into a lasting legacy.

Genres: Australia, Politics

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Salutary read, in which Cleary assembles a good deal of data about the extent of mining in Australia and the degree to which the country is risking its future through a sort of monomania (minomania?) that leads us to turn Australia into one great open pit mine for the Chinese to plunder at will.
Clearly makes the case repeatedly, and well, for a sovereign wealth fund, or stabilisation fund, such as Norway's. But of course no politician here has the courage to plump for the long-term when the short-term is so much more fun. Anyway, this is less a book than it is a long magazine article. Cleary's writing lacks in style, but his argument is substantial.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

It doesn't necessarily form a coherent picture and there's not a lot of economics talk in here, but it does present some interesting ideas and there's something to be learned in here.