Year 9 Economics and Business Unit
Course outline for Year 9 HASS unit on Economics and Business.
Russian Invasion of Ukraine
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Export Finance Australia. (2022, March). Australia—Ukraine invasion weighs on non-resources export outlook. https://www.exportfinance.gov.au/resources/world-risk-developments/2022/march/australia-ukraine-invasion-weighs-on-non-resources-export-outlook/While Russia’s economy is only slightly larger than Australia’s economy, comprising just 1.7% of global GDP, the invasion of Ukraine is crimping global confidence and exacerbating concerns around inflation, given Russia is a major global resources supplier.
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Rogoff, K. (n.d.). The long-lasting economic shock of war. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2022/03/the-long-lasting-economic-shock-of-warRussia’s invasion of Ukraine could upend fiscal and monetary policy in advanced economies. [Speechify audio available]
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Mizen, R. (2022, November 3). Australia’s ‘nice problem’ from the Ukraine war. https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/australia-s-nice-problem-from-the-ukraine-war-20221103-p5bvcfNatural gas and agricultural exports hit record highs in September due to the war in Ukraine, sparking a rebound in the trade surplus, but a strong uptick in imports is expected to drag on economic growth.
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Das, S. (2022, March 20). Australia may be far from Ukraine but we won’t avoid the economic fallout of war. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/20/australia-may-be-far-from-ukraine-but-we-wont-avoid-the-economic-fallout-of-warIf wage growth stagnates while global supply chains fracture and commodity prices rise, Australians face reduced purchasing power.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2022, February 25). Economic impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine will be felt across the world [Video]. In ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
COVID-19
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Reserve Bank of Australia. (n.d.). The COVID-19 pandemic: 2020 to 2021. https://www.rba.gov.au/education/resources/explainers/pdf/the-covid-19-pandemic-2020-to-2021.pdf?v=2024-06-27-15-49-53The public health measures introduced in response
to the pandemic had significant economic
consequences for the Australian and world
economies. The containment of the virus required
the immediate suspension of many economic
activities and restrictions on the movements of
people and economic activity. -
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2022, September 7). Economic gains and losses over the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/economic-gains-and-losses-over-covid-19-pandemicCOVID-19 caused significant disruption to historic patterns of growth in the Australian economy. With most COVID-19 related restrictions and health measures lifted, economic growth has begun to return to longer term patterns.
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Bishop, R., Boulter, J., & Rosewall, T. (2022, March 17). Tracking consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2022/mar/tracking-consumption-during-the-covid-19-pandemic.htmlThe COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented shock to the economy that caused large and unexpected changes in household spending behaviour. Restrictions on household activity limited opportunities to consume services and people switched to purchasing more goods.
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Parliament of Australia. (n.d.). 3. Effects of COVID-19 on Australia. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/FADTandglobalpandemic/Report/section?id=committees%2Freportjnt%2F024552%2F73973The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a range of challenges for the management of Australia’s international relationships and revealed weaknesses in the country’s health system and vulnerability in supply chains.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2020, February 25). Virus outbreak: Business suffers [Video]. In ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Reserve Bank of Australia Charts
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Reserve Bank of Australia. (2024, September 19). The Australian economy and financial markets. https://www.rba.gov.au/chart-pack/pdf/chart-pack.pdf?v=2024-06-27-15-42-17Chart pack related to the Australian economy and financial markets.
Reserve Bank of Australia. (2020, July 2024). Reading and interpreting charts – Introduction [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTXeP8ITvM
Reserve Bank of Australia. (2020, July 2024). Reading and interpreting charts – Examples [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rPXwaa05bY
Chinese Real Estate Boom
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Chau, D. (2023, October 11). How a 'sharp deterioration' in China's property market and potential collapse of Evergrande could affect Australia's economy. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-11/china-property-market-downturn-evergrande-australian-economy/China's property market is facing a "sharp deterioration" which could lead to financial stress domestically, and ultimately affect its trade with Australia.
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Verrender, I. (2023, July 25). China's property meltdown is gathering pace — and it's bad news for Australia. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-25/chinas-property-meltdown-gathers-pace/102641990China's economy is in serious trouble. The country's property sector, once a powerhouse of national economic growth, is in meltdown with predictions of worse to come.
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Khadem, N. (2024, June 27). Foreign demand for Aussie property running hot, but it's just a fraction of Australia's lucrative real estate market. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-27/foreign-buyers-china-hk-india-want-australian-property-housing/1040240After a downturn during the pandemic, foreign buyers are back. Most are coming from China, Hong Kong and India, with the value of transactions hitting almost $5 billion over the past financial year.
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Pearlman, J. (2023, September 17). Experts debunk myth that Chinese buyers drive up Australian property prices. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/australianz/experts-debunk-myth-that-chinese-buyers-drive-up-australian-property-pricesFor years, Australians have blamed soaring property prices on an influx of cashed-up Chinese property buyers. But it turns out that Chinese investment has had little to no effect on Australia’s decades-long property boom.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2018, June 27). Why are there dozens of 'ghost cities' in China? [Video]. In ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2024, August 20). China's property bust becoming Australia's iron ore headache [Video]. In ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Chinese Economic Slowdown
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Guttmann, R., Hickie, K., Rickards, P., & Roberts, I. (2019, June). Spillovers to Australia from the Chinese economy. https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2019/jun/pdf/spillovers-to-australia-from-the-chinese-economy.pdfChina is Australia’s largest trading partner. The strong links between the two economies raises the question of how a sizeable slowdown in Chinese activity would affect
Australia. Through our research we have attempted to quantify how such a scenario could play out and its implications. -
Jose, L., & Varischetti, B. (2024, September 20). Slowing Chinese economy leaves Australian lobster, wheat, iron exporters exposed. https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2024-09-20/china-economic-slowdown-australia-wheat-lobster-iron-exports/104367856After years of economic and trade tension, the pandemic-era barriers to Australian exports by Chinese authorities have been steadily negotiated back to normal. But what should be relief for Australian exporters has instead been accompanied by signs of a significant economic downturn within China.
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Murphy, J. (2023, October 30). China’s economy is faltering. Should we be worried? https://www.forbes.com/advisor/au/personal-finance/how-chinas-decline-affects-australia/Australian jobs and household savings are at risk as our biggest trading partner hits an economic weak-point from which it may never recover.
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Nolt, J. H. (2024, March 4). China’s economic slump is here to stay. https://time.com/6835935/china-debt-housing-bubble/China is in the midst of a profound economic crisis. Many Western pundits and politicians view this crisis as a sign of the bankruptcy of China’s leadership and economic system. But it is more akin to the cyclical debt crises that have plagued capitalist countries throughout history.
Bloomberg Originals. (2023, July 31). China's great slowdown [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6woLkxmdKHI