Record fall in GDP; Economy; Gender learning; Other news; Soundbites; Plus ça change...

The global economic crisis is affecting families and communities across the planet. With regions bearing the brunt of the crisis, affecting businesses, jobs and people generally, regional policies are very much part of the solution.

GDP growth could well weaken from 2.5 % in 2008 to around 1.75 % in 2009 before picking up to 2.75 % in 2010. This would still imply that, despite the depressed international environment, the impact of the financial crisis and the fall in the terms of trade should be relatively contained. Unemployment is likely to increase, however, and inflation may dip below 3% in 2010.

Output growth, which could reach 4.25% in 2007, is expected to slow gradually to 3.5% in 2008 and 3% in 2009, a pace close to the potential growth rate. This slowdown, which will be accompanied by a further tightening of monetary policy to keep inflation in line with the Reserve Bank’s inflation target, should ease strains in the labour market.

If ever you are unsure about the advantages of open trade, why not take a lead from students in economics and consider the story of Robinson Crusoe. Generations of students have discovered how Crusoe, shipwrecked on a desert island and cut off from the outside world, improved his welfare as he became economically re-integrated into the wider world.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) began work on the MAP project in early 2000, with the first issue of the publication released in April 2002. Most of 2000 and 2001 was spent developing and discussing thinking around progress and its measurement – rather than preparing the actual document per se. The publication itself took about six months to write, peer review and publish. The consultation around its development took nearly two years. (…)

Measuring a nation's progress – providing information about whether life is getting better – is one of the most important tasks that a national statistical agency can take on. For almost 100 years, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has been measuring Australia's progress through the multitude of statistics we publish relating to Australia's economy, society and environment. However, for the most part, our statistical publications have tended to focus on each of these three broad areas in isolation.

Some workers in industrial countries fear that increased trade is bad news for their jobs, but evidence is beginning to emerge that export firms have better working conditions. Since the Battle for Seattle in November 1999, the world has seen a wave of anti-globalisation protests in Washington DC, Prague, Melbourne and more recently Gothenburg and Genoa. Anti-globalisation protestors have expressed concerns about a diverse range of policy issues including the environment, world poverty, multinational corporate strategy and trade policy.