SPECIAL FOCUS
Times Of Economic Complexity, Going for Gold: An Idea In times of economic complexity, going for gold is a good idea.
In order to create more industrial sovereignty, Australia
should look to improve its economy through sophisticated manufacturing and export diversification. Australia finished sixth overall with 46 medals, including 17 gold, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. In this nation consisting of 25 million people, Australia has punched way above its weight in the modern Olympics, achieving one of its finest results.
Y
ears of planning and investment went into this success. In the four years running up to the Tokyo Olympics, the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) spent more than $500 million on athlete preparation. While Olympic success is crucial for encouraging community participation and instilling a sense of national pride, Australia is woefully behind the curve when it comes to a key indicator of long-term economic success: economic complexity. Economic complexity is a metric that assesses a country's ability
to produce goods and the sophistication of its exports. These are necessary for increased productivity and global competitiveness. Australia was ranked 79th in the world for economic complexity in 2019. This ranking places them behind emerging economies such as Kazakhstan and Chile and only marginally ahead of Mauritius and Guatemala, despite the fact that we consider ourselves to be an "advanced economy." Other rich countries such as Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland, Germany, South
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Korea, Singapore, and the United States, on the other hand, make up the top ten nations for economic complexity. In comparison to the majority of industrialized economies, Australian exports are both diverse and sophisticated. Iron ore, coal, and mineral fuels are major exports, leaving the economy subject to commodity price fluctuations while also denying Australia the potential to create onshore value by leveraging its human and financial capital. Although Australian miners' efficiency is undeniable, the dig-and-ship model that underlies the economy needs to be reconsidered if Australia is to succeed in the decades ahead. Throughout the COVID epidemic, the limitations of Australia's industrial capability have been exposed. During the early phases of the pandemic, supply chain breakdowns of vital protective equipment and face masks were common,
