The Australian automotive industry has been important to Australia’s economy for numerous decades. Unfortunately, due to factors regarding the cost of manufacturing in Australia, including the higher wages and benefits of Australian workers, the 3 main manufacturers, Holden, Ford and Toyota, have all announced they will be moving their manufacturing overseas. This move comes on the back of a motion put forward to the government to continue providing financial assistance to prevent them doing so.
Toyota, Holden and Ford have all announced their respective companies’ closure of all manufacturing plants in Australia by the end of 2017. Holden’s Chief Executive, Mike Devereux announced Holden’s plans to cease manufacturing in Australia with this statement in a press conference;
‘Today we’re announcing that Holden will cease manufacturing in Australia by the end of 2017. This will mean the eventual closure of our Elizabeth plant, as well as our Victorian engine plant, our engineering centre, and our proving grounds down at Lang Lang.’(Herald Sun 2013)
Many Australians believe that subsidising the car industry is a huge waste of taxpayers’ money, as, if the industry were required by society; it would be able to sustain itself. With the Government intervening, they are only further promoting dependency on the tax payers to fund bad decisions of the industry’s executives. This is in line with the theory of Classical Liberalism, especially the ideas of Hayek.
Hayek argued the role of the Government in sustaining business, and the effects of intervention to a society. ‘Classical liberalism is a political persuasion that is extremely suspicious of government intervention across the board.’ (Klein & Stern, 2006, p10). His beliefs were that ...
... middle of paper ...
...." The Advertiser. http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/workers-at-holdens-closing-elizabeth-plant-blame-federal-government-for-their-uncertain-future/story-fni6uok5-1226781066248 (accessed March 22, 2014).
Davidson, Remy. "FactCheck: do other countries subsidise their car industry more than we do?." The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/factcheck-do-other-countries-subsidise-their-car-industry-more-than-we-do-16308 (accessed March 21, 2014).
Dowling, Joshua. "Thousands of office workers to lose jobs at Toyota, Holden, Ford." NewsComAu. http://www.news.com.au/finance/thousands-of-office-workers-to-lose-jobs-at-toyota-holden-ford/story-e6frfm1i-1226835343394 (accessed March 22, 2014).
Duxfield, Flint . "Mining subsidies top $4.5bn: Australia Institute." ABC Rural. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-25/nrn-dist-mining-subsidies/4778042 (accessed March 27, 2014).
At the end of 1955, American Motors closed its West Coast plant at El Segundo, California, and moved all production to Kenosha. This move increased production, but still ended the year with a loss of $6.9 million. (Foster 18)
The current issues that have been created by the market have trapped our political system in a never-ending cycle that has no solution but remains salient. There is constant argument as to the right way to handle the market, the appropriate regulatory measures, and what steps should be taken to protect those that fail to be competitive in the market. As the ideological spectrum splits on the issue and refuses to come to a meaningful compromise, it gets trapped in the policy cycle and in turn traps the cycle. Other issues fail to be handled as officials drag the market into every issue area and forum as a tool to direct and control the discussion. Charles Lindblom sees this as an issue that any society that allows the market to control government will face from the outset of his work.
Australia’s resources otherwise known as factors of production – natural resources, labour, capital and enterprise, are relatively scarce, resulting in the economic problem of relative scarcity as we cannot satisfy all our needs and wants in Australia as they are unlimited. Collective and individual wants are
Hayek, F.A. Individualism and Economic Order. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago and London. 1948.
Just as John Stuart Mill did in the Principles of Political Economy, Paul Krugman in The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 felt that the government should not only help American businesses gain profits, but also play a major role in protecting the people against big businesses and moguls. Krugman believes that the average citizen cann...
...th the classical view that wages would drop to prohibit unemployment because of Trade Unions, and claim that according this view unemployment would enter a vicious spiral. The implications of this are that Modern liberal economics advocates the state managing the economy and that logically the state has a role to play in helping people achieve the self-fulfillment that liberalism works towards. This is consistent with the Modern liberal view of freedom effectively as an ‘enabling process’.
one of the biggest car manufactures in the world, announced it would be moving its
In conclusion, the idea of globalisation, the process where companies develop themselves internationally is one of the current issues of our generation. Globalisation has been caused because of many factors, such as reduced protection, the reduction of tariffs and quotas and new developments in information and transportation technology. Consequently these factors that cause the globalisation of Australian businesses also result in many costs and benefits. The key costs and benefits are free trade, the result of removing trade barriers and the environmental costs that are caused by pollution from factories. Overall, a positive outcome will arise if the globalisation of Australian business continues.
The vehicle manufacturing plant is located at Burnaston in Derbyshire, the engine manufacturing plant is located at Deeside in North Wales.(Toyota Manufacturing UK 2006 ) the company has, since production began in 1992, grown to its current size with 5,500 members are employed. As ...
Spatz, J., & Nennenkamp, P. (2002, January). Globalization of the automotive industry-traditional locations under pressure. Retrieved January 14, 2012, from http://www.uni-kiel.de/ifw/pub/kap/2002/kap1093.pdf
The automotive industry is one of the most important sectors of the economy for every country in the world. It involves a large number of corporations and institutions engaged in the manufacturing process of motor vehicles including designing, developing, manufacturing, marketing, and selling. It contributes to the global economic growth by generating a significant return and creating a ripple effect on supporting the supply chain as well as providing job opportunities for the skilled workers (ACEA, 2016).
Relocating parts of company’s manufacturing plant from New Zealand to Malaysia would definitely have cost reducing effect on company’s manufacturing operations due to cheaper labour cost and plant. However, there are downsides to what seems like a utopia for manufacturers. This essay will cover some important market and non-market environments in Malaysia that would have an impact on firm’s manufacturing operations.
The automobile industry is a pillar of global economy. Globally automotive contributes roughly 3 % of all GDP output. It historically has contributed 3.0 – 3.5 % to the overall GDP in the US. The share is even higher in the emerging markets, with the rates in china and India at 7 % and rising. China produces the highest number of automobiles followed by US and Japan (oica.net, 2015). The industry supports direct employment of 9 million people to build 60 million vehicles and parts that go into them (oica.net, 2015). Many other industries such as steel, iron, glass, aluminium, textiles etc. are associated with the automotive industry and resulting in more than 50 million jobs owed to the auto
A. Hayek’s most famous work, The Road to Serfdom (1944), was originally written to warn his fellow British citizens of the dangers of socialism, but gained popularity worldwide by economists and politicians alike. His basic argument was that government control of our economic lives amounts to totalitarianism. Hayek wrote, “Economic control is not merely control of a sector of human life which can be separated from the rest, it is the control of the means for all our ends” (Butos, 2012). Socialism attempts to solve economic and social ills by applying scientific principles to government planning and control of the economy. In order for socialism to be effective, central planning must be in place.
Milton Friedman, in his novel Capitalism and Freedom, describes the necessities of economic freedom and the qualities of a nation that advocates economic freedom for its citizens. Friedman, in the introduction, begins the novel with the fact that centralized government has not created the great modern achievements of civilization. He theorizes that individuals, through personal gain and venture, have created and discovered great institutions and inventions that make our society unique. In his words, “government can never duplicate the variety and diversity of individual action.” The individual is a proponent for change, not the government; and through this theory, a government cannot direct an individual to create a change, because the government commanding such an order compromises the individual’s freedom to redefine antiquated ideas and discover “new frontiers in human knowledge and understanding.”