What factors have lead to the appreciation of the Australian dollar from US 47c in 01 to US 96c in 08?

Question

What factors have lead to the appreciation of the Australian dollar from US 47c in 01 to US 96c in 08?

Answer 1

It's not exactly the appreciation of the Australian dollar, it is the depreciation of the dollar that you are experiencing. Though every one knows that the dollar has depreciated against the Euro, many don't realize it has depreciated against currencies as varied as the Australian dollar and the Philippine Peso! Much of the reason is the massive debt that has been accumulated by the United States and the weakening of your economy brought about by the sub-prime mortgage situation, our credit crisis and our failure to ween ourselves from the dependency on petroleum.

Answer 2

The minerals boom - a fair bit of Australia has been dug up and shipped to China. Industrial goods are getting cheaper in comparison  - look how cheap electrical goods are.

Basically. Australia is selling more than it buys.

The American measuring stick shrinking also helps = as mentioned earlier.