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[Brad DeLong]

>Sorry. They are very colorful, and with that transparent hologrammed 
>bit, quite fetching. I was being cruel and insensitive. I was swayed 
>by the memory of the fine food and wine at the waterfront 
>harbourrestaurant in Sydney, a dinner for the equivalent of US$22 
>each, and the fine lunch at the Universal Wine Bar in Adelaide, with 
>2 glasses of Shiraz, for just US$11. And the cute "boutique" Hotel 
>Tolarno in Melbourne, with all its hilarious art, for US$50 a night. 
>It was all very seductive, and now I'm feeling very guilty about 
>these pleasures.

It sounds as if the most pleasant thing about them was not the 
experiences, but the fact that the experiences came as a low 
price--and thus that you felt a feeling of consumerist "victory." 
IMHO, it is this feeling of consumerist victory that makes travelling 
in countries with an undervalued exchange rate so delightful (and 
travelling in countries with an overvalued exchange rate so 
stressful: you feel as though you are being exploited at every turn).


>By the way, why is Australia still rich? Why didn't it follow a path 
>more like Argentina?

--much better educational system than Argentina
--much higher domestic savings rate than Argentina
--English makes technology transfer from Britain and America much smoother
--no military coups
--no Juan Peron

I think those five account for most of it. Remember: the destiny of 
the southern cone is the exception for countries at such an absolute 
latitude.

Brad DeLong