Wheels and Deals

Descripción

"The emergence and development of automobile production in Australia was a long, drawn out and costly business for car buyers and taxpayers." "Throughout the twentieth century to foster and preserve a local industry, Australian governments implemented a range of protective measures which was quite extraordinary. Tariffs (the enduring measure), quantitative restrictions, local content schemes, market sharing arrangements, subsidies of various types, the granting of monopoly production rights and even outright import prohibitions, all were tried at various times." "As the nature of the protective arrangements changed, so too did the structure of the industry - its productive processes, the types of components and vehicles it produced and even the origins of its ownership and control. Few of these measures turned out for the better." "Wheels and Deals, then, is the story of some of the causes and effects of Australian Government policies on the local development of one of the most significant industries of the twentieth century."--Jacket.