The Airport Economist

204 Pages·2008·0.53 MB·English

by  Tim Harcourt

Airport Economist PAGES 9/4/08 3:02 PM Page i
(cid:54)(cid:42)(cid:39) (cid:35)(cid:43)(cid:52)(cid:50)(cid:49)(cid:52)(cid:54) (cid:39)(cid:37)(cid:49)(cid:48)(cid:49)(cid:47)(cid:43)(cid:53)(cid:54)
Airport Economist PAGES 9/4/08 3:02 PM Page ii
The airport economist has a website
www.theairporteconomist.com
Airport Economist PAGES 9/4/08 3:02 PM Page iii
(cid:54)(cid:42)(cid:39) (cid:35)(cid:43)(cid:52)(cid:50)(cid:49)(cid:52)(cid:54)
(cid:39)(cid:37)(cid:49)(cid:48)(cid:49)(cid:47)(cid:43)(cid:53)(cid:54)
(cid:54)(cid:75)(cid:79) (cid:42)(cid:67)(cid:84)(cid:69)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:84)(cid:86)
Airport Economist PAGES 9/4/08 3:02 PM Page iv
First published in 2008
Copyright © Tim Harcourt 2008
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The
Australian Copyright Act 1968(the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or
10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by
any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the
educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a
remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.allenandunwin.com
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Harcourt, Tim.
The airport economist / Tim Harcourt.
Crows Nest, N.S.W. : Allen & Unwin, 2008.
9781741755121 (pbk.)
Exports—Economic aspects—Australia.
Foreign trade promotion—Australia
Set in New Baskerville 10/12 pt by Midland Typesetters, Australia
Printed and bound in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Airport Economist PAGES 9/4/08 3:02 PM Page v
CONTENTS
Introduction vii
ASIA
11 Everybody loves Raymond 3
12 Love thy neighbour? Living with ASEAN 11
13 Motorcycle diaries 25
14 Shanghai of the tiger 31
15 Lost in translation 38
16 Switched on in Seoul 44
17 Mumbai be right, I may be crazy 52
THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
18 Sheikh, model and mall 61
19 Prosperous on the Bosphorus 67
10 Tim Tams to Tel Aviv 74
11 Free (trade) Nelson Mandela 80
EUROPE
12 Pushkin meets Pitjantjatjara 89
13 A chip off the old bloc? 95
14 The Italian job 106
15 Berets, baguettes and board shorts 112
v
Airport Economist PAGES 9/4/08 3:02 PM Page vi
vi THE AIRPORT ECONOMIST
16 A tale of two World Cups 119
17 The Kylie effect 124
THE AMERICAS
18 All the way with the USA? 131
19 Blame it on Rio 146
20 Don’t buy from me, Argentina 152
21 Red hot Chile 158
COMING HOME
22 Bringing it all home to Kath & Kim 165
Conclusion—the airport economist’s 172
Ten Commandments
The airport economist’s useful websites in trade
and economics 176
The A to Z of exporting 181
Acknowledgements 192
Airport Economist PAGES 9/4/08 3:02 PM Page vii
INTRODUCTION
ONCE UPON A time, in the 1970s, when stagflation (double-
digit inflation and unemployment) ravaged western
economies, economists were dispatched to lands near and far
to offer ‘advice’ (some for free, some paid for). A famous
example was in 1974 when the father of the Chicago School
of economics, the late Milton Friedman, visited Australia to
offer his advice to policymakers down under. Friedman, well
known for his economic advice to the Pinochet regime in
Chile, suggested the usual medicine to Australian policy-
makers: Fight inflation first by using monetary policy,
balance the budget, deregulate the financial markets, and
reduce the size of government. However, Friedman gave this
advice at a hastily arranged press conference at the airport on
arrivalin Australia, before he had got the chance to examine
conditions in Australia and meet with Australian officials. As
a result, local opponents of his policies coined the term
‘airport economist’ for Friedman.
Since then, a number of airport economists have been
identified, some also bestowing wisdom upon a country
without actually leaving the airport arrivals lounge. Take
Jeffrey Sachs, who flew around the world giving advice to the
transition economies after the fall of communism and also
vii
Airport Economist PAGES 9/4/08 3:02 PM Page viii
viii THE AIRPORT ECONOMIST
in Latin America before becoming a strong anti-poverty
campaigner. During the Asian financial crisis of 1997–99, the
likes of Indonesia had many visits from airport economists,
particularly those with the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the World Bank. Unfortunately for the IMF (and
even more so for the countries involved) identical policy
advice was offered to several countries on one whirlwind trip
(and, embarrassingly, someone forgot to proofread an other-
wise standard document so that, for example, the word
‘Malaysia’ wasn’t replaced by the word ‘Indonesia’ when
required). This particular incident revived the original basis
of the ‘airport economist’ concept, that there is a one-size-
fits-all approach to policy, and that visits to actual countries
are more for show than investigation.
However, all that is really just a quick history lesson on the
term and not in fact why I called this book The Airport Econo-
mist. I have always wanted to write an economics book and
have a particular interest in how economic integration on a
global scale affects local communities. On the other hand, I
have always wanted to write what is sometimes dubbed an
‘airport book’, that is, one that is accessible and read by lots
of people! Like many travellers, I do much of my reading on
planes and find airport bookstores fantastic value. So, like
a true ‘two-handed’ economist wanting to write both an
economics and an airport book, I decided The Airport Econo-
misthad to be the answer.
So why did the airport economist choose the destinations he
travelled to? It was a matter of covering the world in a vaguely
comprehensive fashion and also going to places where Australia
has a reasonable (if in some cases developing) economic
presence. It was also important to get the balance right between
Asia, Europe and the Americas whilst finding some room for
emerging markets in the Middle East and Africa.
But you can’t go everywhere (man). Criticised by some for
travelling too much as prime minister of Australia, when one
of Gough Whitlam’s staffers reported that the United
Airport Economist PAGES 9/4/08 3:02 PM Page ix
Introduction ix
Nations had created three brand new countries, Gough
allegedly replied (with a touch of sarcasm): ‘The UN is
creating countries faster than I can f****** well visit them!’
Well, the UN is creating countries faster than the airport
economist can visit them but you have to make a start some-
where. In any case, as my publisher said, we had to leave
some countries for the sequel.
The airport economist’s journey was greatly assisted by
access to the Australian Trade Commission’s global network.
The Australian Trade Commission—better known within
Australia as Austrade—is the federal government agency that
helps Australian companies crack the global economy. Tra-
ditionally, Austrade has helped Australian companies to
export,but with new forms of globalisation sweeping interna-
tional business Austrade has also supported Australian
companies to set up joint ventures, strategic alliances, licens-
ing and franchising arrangements, international aid
procurement and foreign direct investment. The Austrade
global network covers 62 countries with nearly 120 locations. If
the domestic network is added, Austrade has coverage from
Adelaide to Zagreb.
Naturally, because of the nationalityof the airport econo-
mist and his association with Austrade, this book takes on
an Australian flavour. However, whilst The Airport Economist
mainly focuses on opportunities for Australians in the world
and looks principally at trade and commercial questions, I
hope that both non-Australians and non-economists (who
may not get as excited as I do about the wonderful world of
trade and economics) will still enjoy the ride. In particular,
I hope that students—both Australian and international—
might find trade and economics as interesting as I do and
even consider a career with an international focus. In
addition, I hope that some small businesspeople and
budding entrepreneurs out there, who hadn’t thought a lot
about the opportunities of the global economy before,
decide to stick their own toe in the water beyond our shores.
Airport Economist PAGES 9/4/08 3:02 PM Page x
This page intentionally left blank