One
of the "buzz terms" that has emerged in Australia during 1999/2000 has
been the new economy. When they use this term, economists are
referring to the remarkably strong economic growth and low inflation performance
of the Australian economy during the late 1990's, compared to previous decades,
and the importance of microeconomic reform in generating this outcome.
Microeconomic reform has transformed the structure of the Australian economy since the mid 1980's. This transformation has resulted in:
resources being more productively allocated
production becoming more specialised within industries
firms reorganising and improving management practices and workplace arrangements, e.g. mergers, takeovers, quality control, multi-skilling
increased innovation and use of workplace agreements
increased workplace skills, increased vocational training
Microeconomic reforms have a major influence on these changes. It has direct specific links to production effects such as the effects of tariff, tax and industrial relations reforms on resource allocation in the economy.
Your task is to visit The Department of Workplace Relations site that outlines possible future outcomes for the Australian workplace. From this site use the 5 major headings to set up a table. Under each of these major headings list the important points relevant to each of the headings.