Wizard of Oz

Australia wins the gold medal of the longest economic expansion in the modern era. Elsewhere, this windfall might occasion unwise flights of Socialist fancy. Not down under. Recently, Australians re-elected conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The green elites were aghast. The Pentecostal Christian and unabashed supporter of Big Coal declared his stunning victory the triumph of “the quiet Australians.”

Not so long ago, it was widely believed that in many parts of the world for long periods, you needed good peripheral vision to see Australia on a map. When the country did get attention, as often as not it was either for some natural disaster (floods, bushfires, shark attacks) or in the form of glowing praise in the travel, sports or food and wine sections of newspapers.
These days, Australia has attracted more serious global attention, because we have become a role model. A sample of media headlines makes the point: “The wonder down under” (BBC); “No other nation looks like Australia” (New York Times); “Australia’s economy builds on a winning streak&rdquo ...