The booming ACT economy

In terms of higher-tech stuff, many of the firms already here simply can’t find staff. And if you want property prices to really skyrocket, open up a company with 1000+ jobs paying over $100k each…

All in all, I think Canberra is doing very well. One of the things that makes Canberra good from a business perspective is that the cycles of business are less extreme – the highs aren’t as high but neither are the lows as low.

This is based on my opinion working in private sector IT.

It’s good to know that we can grow quickly, but I’d be far happier if it wasn’t so concentrated upon one industry – housing.

On the plus side, if the number of apartments going up in places like Braddon is an indication, maybe – just maybe – our rents will soften a bit, or at least stop jumping as quickly.

But if we get a Liberal Federal government, I think we’ll see these numbers fall off a cliff.

The numbers/headlines I’d like to see for Canberra would look more like this:

*Number of high-tech firms in the ACT hits record high.
*Google opens Canberra campus
*Aerospace manufacturing firm to offer 1500 jobs.
*Canberra firms named most innovative in Australia on average.
*Urban renewal makes Canberra artistic/creative hot spot.

I am not having a go at any of our existing sectors, or to suggest that lower-tech firms are not important, but in many ways we are not known for having any firms which are household names, or as the centre of an industry that doesn’t simply depend upon government. If we had the type of headlines I mention above, it would show our economy was becoming more diverse.

Another press release from katy that only tells one side of the story – no mention of the collapse in retail sales in the ACT.

“27.5 per cent higher than its decade average level”

What does this mean? How is this calculated?

Unemployment 3% wow, that is low

3 of the 5 criteria are housing related… that sounds eminently sustainable. we’ve reached a new plateau, a new paradigm, things are different here and house prices never fall. please…

perhaps if housing were allowed to return to levels remotely reminiscent of sanity other sectors of the economy might flourish too… but i do hear that putting all your eggs in one basket is the safest way to go.

Which bank?

Gosh, if this is booming, I’m better off dead!

So we have a booming economy due to a debt ridden over heating property market. Hooray.