Analysis explains the recent rise in Japan’s trade surplus as follows: because of the recession at home, Japan has seen a decline in expensive imports of luxuries, which were enormously fashionable during the second half of the 1980s. This effect has been compounded, thanks to slow growth elsewhere, by low prices for the international commodities that Japanese industry depends upon. Exports of Japanese machinery, on the other hand, withstood the downturn quite well because the Asian economies that buy them continued to boom.

Communication technology may overcome the disadvantage of Australia’s location.

Sydney plans to become a global finance center as its Asian neighbor Hong Kong does.

Analysis explains the recent rise in Japan’s trade surplus as follows: because of the recession at home, Japan has seen a decline in expensive imports of luxuries, which were enormously fashionable during the second half of the 1980s. This effect has been compounded, thanks to slow growth elsewhere, by low prices for the international commodities that Japanese industry depends upon. Exports of Japanese machinery, on the other hand, withstood the downturn quite well because the Asian economies that buy them continued to boom.

Knowledge-intensive services are Australia’s traditional economic sectors.

Sydney has overwhelming competitiveness than its rivals.

Passage 2

According to the traditional belief of visitors that Sydney was a good place for a holiday rather than somewhere to make money—an activity better fitted to Singapore and Hong Kong. But “that viewpoint is now outdated,“ says New South Wales Premier Bob Carr. He wants to reposition Sydney as a strategic center for global financial services by taking advantage of international finance restructuring and the recent Asian economic crisis. Becoming a regional hub for mega(巨大)-banks, funds managers and insurance groups would attract other (telecommunications providers, law firms, chartered accountants), create jobs, stimulate construction. ”We want to become the Wall Street of East Asia,“ says Federal Finance Services Minister Joe Hockey.Australia traditionally made a living by using its buried treasures rather than its brains. The drive to make Sydney a financial center is part of the country’s shift from resources to knowledge-intensive services. And the politicians are basing their promotional pitch(计划)on the sweeping (大规模的)policy reforms that have turned Australia from one of the world’s most insular and protected economies into one that is open and entrepreneurial. But despite recent tax changes and Hockey calls “the most significant undertaken in our history”, some senior industry figures say Sydney may not have all it takes to outdo the attractions of Australia’s regional rivals. “We are a relatively small country a long way from the major population centers and hence the customers that drive activity,” Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Battelino told a recent Senate hearing on financial services. The politicians disagree: communications technology, they insist, is making Australia’s location irrelevant.

Sydney is famous for its tourism.

The employment-protection laws make it easier for workers to find new jobs.

The writer thinks that macroeconomic policy can affect unemployment.

Structural rigidities actually do not lead to Europe’s high unemployment.

Faster economic growth will ease the pressure of unemployment in the EU.