essay 1
ECON2313 Assignment Essay 1
What was the impact of the First World War on the Australian Economy?
Australia’s involvement in the First World War began in the 1914, its actions representative of its support of Britain’s declaration of war. This unity is implied by the amount of men who felt duty bound to serve Britain’s interest, corresponding to 40% of men enlisted who are aged between 18 and 44. Of these amounts, 330000 men went abroad, whilst 60000 passed away and another 150000 returning with injuries (Dyster & Meredith 2012, p.96). Hence, the absence of these men during the period of Wold War One itself signifies major impacts to the Australian economy, coming in the form of a decrease in labour supply, thus triggering changes in the economy to attempt to replace these shortage. This dilemma is further compounded with the difficulties Australia experienced in its trade agreements during the war and its attempt to resolve it through import substitution, which however, triggers both positive and negative changes, hence altering the structure of the economy. Furthermore, the return of the soldiers from war, and Australia’s attempts to reabsorb them to the community also causes difficulties for Australia, which are compounded by the lack of finances involved to act upon this plan, hence straining Australia’s debt.
The rise of the war meant a shift in the allocation of resources in Australia due to import substitution, causing a more rapid development in its manufacturing industry. This is in effect triggered by the cancellation in trade agreements with Germany and Austria Hungary, compounded by the circumstances which made Australia isolated in terms of its trading activities. The reason for this isolation was due to the scarcity of merchant vessels crossing the Atlantic due to the threats of warships, which consequently makes transportation costs to increase and making the costs of imports and exports to rise significantly, whilst some imports even became
What was the impact of the First World War on the Australian Economy?
Australia’s involvement in the First World War began in the 1914, its actions representative of its support of Britain’s declaration of war. This unity is implied by the amount of men who felt duty bound to serve Britain’s interest, corresponding to 40% of men enlisted who are aged between 18 and 44. Of these amounts, 330000 men went abroad, whilst 60000 passed away and another 150000 returning with injuries (Dyster & Meredith 2012, p.96). Hence, the absence of these men during the period of Wold War One itself signifies major impacts to the Australian economy, coming in the form of a decrease in labour supply, thus triggering changes in the economy to attempt to replace these shortage. This dilemma is further compounded with the difficulties Australia experienced in its trade agreements during the war and its attempt to resolve it through import substitution, which however, triggers both positive and negative changes, hence altering the structure of the economy. Furthermore, the return of the soldiers from war, and Australia’s attempts to reabsorb them to the community also causes difficulties for Australia, which are compounded by the lack of finances involved to act upon this plan, hence straining Australia’s debt.
The rise of the war meant a shift in the allocation of resources in Australia due to import substitution, causing a more rapid development in its manufacturing industry. This is in effect triggered by the cancellation in trade agreements with Germany and Austria Hungary, compounded by the circumstances which made Australia isolated in terms of its trading activities. The reason for this isolation was due to the scarcity of merchant vessels crossing the Atlantic due to the threats of warships, which consequently makes transportation costs to increase and making the costs of imports and exports to rise significantly, whilst some imports even became