Savings, investment, productivity and economic growth of Australia 1861-1990: Some explorations

1 Introduction

There appears to be a consensus that Australia's contemporary savings rates are too low, and this situation restrains domestic investment, slows economic growth and increases external debt and the rate of unemployment.l The `saving constraint' view has been adopted and emphasized in current fiscal policy. The Treasurer and Minister for Finance recently announced in the Budget Strategy and Outlook, 1997 98 that raising `national saving is the primary focus of the Government's medium-term fiscal strategy' (pp.1-12). The Treasurer in the Budget Speech, 1997-98 also claims that with