True Blue Growth: The Australia's Economy is Up 4.3% Over a Year Ago

Bloomberg reports that Australia's GDP is grew .9 percent over the first quarter and is up 4.3% from a year ago. The Aussies do not annualize the quarterly growth rates as does the U.S. Commerce Department. I suspect they have it right down under: the gyrations in the seasonally adjusted annual rates we report on GDP growth confuses more than it enlightens.

Australia's expansion is in its sixteenth year. They have been doing well ever since I first arrived in 1991 and continued after I left. (Post hoc, ergo propter hoc?)

Investment spending and exports are leading the parade. The commodity boom and particularly China's insatiable appetite for raw materials is driving growth. The U.S. is no longer the lone leader of the world economy:

Bloomberg reports "The Australian dollar climbed to 82.45 U.S. cents at 1:36 p.m. in Sydney from 82.07 cents immediately before the report."