The Australian Economy

Forget the reports that the Australian economy is booming because China needs raw materials, of which Australia has plenty. Drawing on our extensive research in malls, bottle shops, and restaurants, we can report that the Australian economy is really based on:

• Wine - there's a glut of good wine. Horrible, horrible problem.
  
• Real estate - this is the home of the $600K ok-it-sucks-so-tear-it-down-and-build-something-you-like house listing.
  
• Cell phones - about half the stores in any mall seem to be concerned with selling you an even better cell phone plan. Surprisingly, cell phone rates still suck.Cell phone rates are a mystery. We can call the US for 50min/$1 whereas the intra-Sydney cell phone rate is much higher (it gives me a headache to calculate how much it really costs so take my word for it).
  
• Good food. Sadly, the once ubiquitous pie shops have been replaced by trendy Asian fusion cuisine restaurants. If either Judi or I actually ate pies (pass the HP sauce), we might be a bit more upset.

One day the Chinese will own Australia as well as the US.

Tim