The health and caring boom has given us a two-speed economy. It’s hell for policymakers

Just over a decade ago, we grappled with the problems of a two-speed economy driven by the mining investment boom. That not merely meant different economic performance between the states — unemployment in Western Australia was below 4% for most of 2012 — but differences between sectors, with Australian manufacturing smashed by a dollar above parity with the US dollar.

The impacts of a two-speed economy and the challenges it posed for policymakers only became apparent over time — the Gillard government only released what was basically a manufacturing rescue package in early 2013.