Happy (Late) Australia Day

Music

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/sydney-opera-house/technology-links-musicians-around-the-world-20101018-16qhv.html

I found this article on the Sydney Morning Herald website. Apparently, You tube is launching a online orchestra directed by Tilson Thomas, a grammy award winning conductor. Anyone from anywhere may audition online to participate in this ensemble and people can vote on the semi-finalists. The final group will perform at the Sydney Opera House in March 2011.

This ties in with Australia's increasing urbanization. Australia is becoming more and more "Westernized" and they seem to be reaching out more for diversity in their nation. On page 640 and 641 it discusses Australia's influence of North American and European culture. The fact that they are hosting a classical music symphony shows that they are truly becoming more Urbanized and Westernized as classical music began in the West.
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Economy


http://www.news.com.au/business/rising-wages-a-worry-for-businesses/story-e6frfm1i-1226001874892

Australia's economy is booming now more than ever. Tourism is becoming more and more popular and revenue for most businesses are expected to grow rapidly this year.

The down side to Australia's booming economy is that wage increases are becoming expected by workers due to unemployment rates dropping and the demand for workers rising. If this happens though, most businesses expect the wage increase to affect their business growth (or lack there of) by more than 2 percentage points, peaking toward the middle of the year.

I thought that this article tied into pg. 657 on "The Australian Economy." In the book it talked about the growing tourism sector of the economy and I expect that, in those companies, workers will look for more money due to the growing demand. If this happens, we could see a rise in tourism prices and a decline in the amount of visitors to Australia.