Comments by "Paul Aiello" (@paul1979uk2000) on "Two Economies, With One Set of Flaws: The Economies of Australia and Canada | Econ" video.
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I find the problem with countries like Australia and Canada is that they've both got a small population, which is a problem when it comes to growth of companies when there's such a small consumer base, it makes them far more dependent on bigger powers around the world, especially the likes of the EU, US and China.
Then we have natural resources, which both countries have lots of them, that can be a blessing and a curse and puts them far more dependent on outside factors.
Bigger powers like the EU, US and China have a massive advantage of having a far bigger economy, baked up by a far bigger population, and they can change the rules whenever they want to their advantage.
I actually feel that countries that have fewer natural resources are in a better position because it forces them to adapt in other areas to be competitive, whereas countries that are more dependent on natural resources, are at the mercy of the world market, the demand for that resource and even the rules that bigger players can change at any time to put smaller players at a disadvantage.
It's also kinda worse for Australia because of its geographic of being in the middle of nowhere, whereas Canada at least are on the doorstep with the US, and it could become far worse in the future for Australia because of a rising China which are not exactly on friendly terms with western countries.
Basically, with Australia being so dependent on China and Canada being so dependent on the US, they really do have those two countries over a barrel that if they wanted to play hard ball or to change the rules, what can Australia and Canada do but complain about it? It probably also explains why both Australia and Canada wants to increase trade with the EU to diversify trade and the risk, being that the EU is the only other big player around, but as both Australia and Canada have found out when it comes to trade deals, the EU holds the cards when it comes to getting better terms for its self then what both countries would want, but it's in both countries interest to diversify trade with other players around the world, more so with Australia, they don't want to be too dependent on China with how political China is getting and even Canada should think twice about the US with how erratic it's political system is getting, which means both countries can't afford to rock the boat with the two superpowers they trade a lot with and need to diversify to reduce the risk.
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Unfortunately, that's the big advantage the big players like the EU, US and China have, they can change the rules in their favour to benefit them and put other countries at a disadvantage.
Having a big consumer base market is a massive advantage as it basically means they can make the rules however they see fit, it also gives individuals and companies in those markets a big advantage as they can play by different rules compared to the rest of the world by having easy access to a big consumer base.
The irony is, in the case of the EU, if the members got their act together, create a capital market and other reforms and integrations, it would allow the EU to do a lot of the same that the US and China does when it comes to big spending and investment in many sectors, including high-tech, that would be a major advantage for the EU but it would put other countries like Australia and Canada at a disadvantage.
Today, the world is ruled by two things, the size of the economy and the population size which creates a big consumer base, those two factors allow them to make the rules up as they go along and it's more or less what the EU and US does when it comes to international rules and regulations.
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