Too Much Luck

Many countries before us have been caught out by the ‘resource curse’: a heady boom followed by a painful bust.

In Too Much Luck: The Mining Boom and Australia’s Future, journalist Paul Cleary shows how the resource boom, which seems a blessing, could well become a curse.

We have never seen a boom quite like this one. Under-taxed and under-regulated, multinational companies are making colossal profits by selling off non-renewable resources. New projects are being rushed through weekly, but who is looking out for the public interest? As the boom accelerates, it will drive the dollar higher and higher, and force up the cost of doing business for everyone else.

Industries that involve many jobs, such as tourism and education, will fade away. What happens if commodity prices suddenly collapse, as they have in the past? Or worse, when the resources run out?

In Too Much Luck Paul Cleary examines the question of political leadership on the investment of resource wealth, and compares Australia’s lack of savings to other resource-rich nations such as Norway and East Timor, which both have sovereign wealth funds to fall back on.

Many countries before us have been caught by the resource trap: a heady period of boom and growth, followed by a painful bust. Paul Cleary maps out the pitfalls, counts the human and environmental costs, shows what has worked overseas and suggests a better way forward – one which would turn this one-off windfall into a lasting legacy.

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