document_title: Economy of Australia

question_text: what industry developed into australia's biggest business

question_tokens: what industry developed into australia 's biggest business

text: Economy of Australia

text: History[edit]

text: 20th century[edit]

text: This Section is incomplete. (February 2014)

text: Australia's average GDP growth rate for the period 1901–2000 was 3.4% annually. As opposed to many Southeast Asian countries, the process towards independence was relatively peaceful and thus did not have significant negative impact on the economy and standard of living.[42] Growth peaked during the 1920s, followed by the 1950s and the 1980s. By contrast, the late 1910s/early 1920s, the 1930s, the 1970s and early 1990s were marked by financial crises.

text: Economic liberalisation[edit]

text: From the early 1980s onwards, the Australian economy has undergone a continuing economic liberalisation. In 1983, under Prime Minister Bob Hawke, but mainly driven by Treasurer Paul Keating, the Australian dollar was floated and financial deregulation was undertaken.

text: Early 1990s Recession[edit]

text: The early 1990s recession came swiftly after the Black Monday of October 1987, resulting from a stock collapse of unprecedented size caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall by 22.6%. This collapse, larger than the stock market crash of 1929, was handled effectively by the global economy and the stock market began to quickly recover. However, in North America, the lumbering savings and loans industry was facing decline which eventually led to a savings and loan crisis which compromised the wellbeing of millions of US people. The following recession thus impacted the many countries closely linked to the United States, including Australia. Paul Keating, who was Prime Minister at the time, famously referred to it as "the recession that Australia had to have."[43] During the recession, GDP fell by 1.7%, employment by 3.4% and the unemployment rate rose to 10.8%.[44] However, the recession did assist in reducing long-term inflation rate expectations and Australia has maintained a low inflation environment since the 1990s to the present day.

text: Mining[edit]

text: The establishment of a mining industry has contributed to the high level of economic growth from the gold-rush in the 1840s to the present day. The opportunities for large profits in pastoralism and mining attracted considerable amounts of British capital, while expansion was supported by enormous government outlays for transport, communication and urban infrastructures which also depended heavily on British finance. As the economy expanded, large-scale immigration became necessary to satisfy the growing demand for workers, especially after the end of convict transportation to the eastern mainland in 1840. Australia's mining operations secured continued economic growth and Western Australia itself benefited strongly from mining iron-ore and gold from the 1960s and 1970s which fueled the rise of suburbanisation and consumerism in Perth, the capital and most populous city of Western Australia, as well as other regional centres.

text: Global financial crisis[edit]

text: The Australian government stimulus package ($11.8 billion) helped prevent a recession.[45]

text: The World Bank expected Australia's GDP growth rate to be 3.2% in 2011 and 3.8% in 2012.[46] The economy expanded by 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2011, and expanded by 1.3% in the first quarter of 2012.[47][48] The growth rate was reported to be 4.3% year-on-year.[49]

text: The International Monetary Fund in April 2012 predicted that Australia would be the best-performing major advanced economy in the world over the next two years; the Australian Government Department of the Treasury anticipated "forecast growth of 3.0% in 2012 and 3.5% in 2013",[50] the National Australia Bank in April 2012 cut its growth forecast for Australia to 2.9% from 3.2%.,[51] and JP Morgan in May 2012 cut its growth forecast to 2.7% in calendar 2012 from a previous forecast of 3.0%, also its forecast for growth in 2013 to 3.0% from 3.3%.[52] Deutsche Bank in August 2012, and Societe Generale in October 2012, warned that there is risk of recession in Australia in 2013.[53][54]

text: While Australia's overall national economy grew, some non-mining states and Australia's non-mining economy experienced a recession.[55][56][57]

text: Overview[edit]

text: Australia's per-capita GDP is higher than that of the UK, Canada, Germany, and France in terms of purchasing power parity. Per Capita GDP (PPP) Australia is ranked 18th in the world (CIA World Factbook 2016). The country was ranked second in the United Nations 2016 Human Development Index and sixth in The Economist worldwide quality-of-life index 2005.[58][59] In 2014, using constant exchange rates, Australia's wealth had grown by 4.4% annually on average since 2007, compared with a 9.2% rate over 2000–2007.[60] Australia's sovereign credit rating is "AAA" for all three major rating agencies, higher than the United States of America.

text: The emphasis on exporting commodities rather than manufactures underpinned a significant increase in Australia's terms of trade during the rise in commodity prices since 2000. However, due to a colonial heritage a lot of companies operating in Australia are foreign-owned and as a result, Australia has had persistent current account deficits for over 60 years despite periods of positive net merchandise exports; given the net income outlay between Australia and the rest of the world is always negative. The current account deficit totalled AUD$44.5 billion in 2016[61] or 2.6% of GDP.

text: Inflation has typically been between 2–3% and the pre-GFC cash rate typically ranged between 5–7%, however, partly in response to the end of the mining boom the cash rate has recently been steadily falling, dropping from 4.75% in October 2011 to 1.5% in Aug 2016. The service sector of the economy, including tourism, education and financial services, constitutes 69% of GDP.[62] Australian National University in Canberra also provides a probabilistic interest-rate-setting project for the Australian economy, which is compiled by shadow board members from the ANU academic staff.[63]

text: Rich in natural resources, Australia is a major exporter of agricultural products, particularly wheat and wool, minerals such as iron ore and gold, and energy in the forms of liquified natural gas and coal. Although agriculture and natural resources constitute only 3% and 5% of GDP, respectively, they contribute substantially to Australia's export composition. Australia's largest export markets are Japan, China, South Korea, India and the US.[64]

text: At the turn of the current century, Australia experienced a significant mining boom. The mining sector's contribution to overall GDP grew from around 4.5% in 1993–94, to almost 8% in 2006–07. The services sector also grew considerably, with property and business services in particular growing from 10% to 14.5% of GDP over the same period, making it the largest single component of GDP (in sectoral terms). This growth has largely been at the expense of the manufacturing sector, which in 2006–07 accounted for around 12% of GDP. A decade earlier, it was the largest sector in the economy, accounting for just over 15% of GDP.[65]

text: Regional differences[edit]

text: Between 2010 and 2013, much of the economic growth in Australia was attributed to areas of the country where mining- and resource-based industries and services are mostly located. Western Australia and the Northern Territory are the only states that have economic growth.[66][67][68] During 2012 and 2013 Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria experiences recessions at various times.[66][69][70][71][72][73] The Australian economy is characterised as a "two-speed economy".[74][75][76][77][78][79][80] From June 2012 to March 2013 Victoria experienced a recession. In 2012 the Government of Victoria cut 10% of all jobs in the public service.[81][82] The period since has seen these trends reversed with West Australia and the Northern Territory, who are heavily dependent on mining, experience significant downturns in GDP while the eastern states returned to growth, led by strong upturns in NSW and Victoria.[83]

text: Taxation[edit]

text: Taxation in Australia is levied at the federal, state, and local government levels. The federal government raises revenue from personal income taxes and business taxes. Other taxes include the goods and services tax (General Service Tax), excise and customs duties. The federal government is the main source of income for state governments. As a result of state dependence on federal taxation revenue to meet decentralised expenditure responsibilities, Australia is said to have a vertical fiscal imbalance.

text: Besides receipts of funds from the federal government, states and territories have their own taxes, in many cases as slightly different rates. State taxes commonly include payroll tax levied on businesses, a poker-machine tax on businesses that offer gambling services, land tax on people and businesses that own land and most significantly, stamp duty on sales of land (in every state) and other items (chattels in some states, unlisted shares in others, and even sales of contracts in some states).

text: The states effectively lost the ability to raise income tax during the Second World War. In 1942, Canberra invoked its Constitutional taxation power (s. 51 (ii)) and enacted the Income Tax Act and three other statutes to levy a uniform income tax across the country. These acts sought to raise the funds necessary to meet burgeoning wartime expenses and reduce the unequal tax burden between the states by replacing state income taxes with a centralised tax system. The legislation could not expressly prohibit state income taxes (s. 51(ii) does not curtail the power of states to levy taxes) but the federal government's proposal made localised income tax extremely difficult politically. The federal government offered instead compensatory grants authorised by s. 96 of the Constitution for the loss of state income (State Grants (Income Tax Reimbursement) Act 1942).

text: The states rejected Canberra's regime and challenged the legislation's validity in the First Uniform Tax Case (South Australia v Commonwealth) of 1942. The High Court of Australia held that each of the statutes establishing Commonwealth income tax was a valid use of the s. 51(ii) power, in which Latham CJ noted that the system did not undermine essential state functions and imposed only economic and political pressure upon them.

text: The Second Uniform Tax Case (Victoria v Commonwealth (1957)) reaffirmed the court's earlier decision and confirmed the power of the federal government's power to make s. 96 grants conditionally (in this case, a grant made on the condition that the recipient state does not levy income tax).

text: Since the Second Uniform Tax Case, a number of other political and legal decisions have centralised fiscal power with the Commonwealth. In Ha vs. New South Wales (1997), the High Court found that the Business Franchise Licences (Tobacco) Act 1987 (NSW) was invalid because it levied a customs duty, a power exercisable only by the Commonwealth (s.90). This decision effectively invalidated state taxes on cigarettes, alcohol and petrol. Similarly, the imposition of a Commonwealth goods and services tax (GST) in 2000 transferred another revenue base to the Commonwealth.

text: Consequently, Australia has one of the most pronounced vertical fiscal imbalances in the world: the states and territories collect just 18% of all governmental revenues but are responsible for almost 50% of the spending areas. Furthermore, the centralisation of revenue collection has allowed Canberra to force state policy in areas well beyond the scope of its constitutional powers, by using the grants power (s.96) to mandate the terms on which the states spend money in areas over which the it has no power (such as spending on education, health and policing).

text: Local governments (called councils in Australia) have their own taxes (called rates) to enable them to provide services such as local road repairs, local planning and building management, garbage collection, street cleaning, park maintenance services, libraries, and museums. Councils also rely on state and federal funding to provide infrastructure and services such as roads, bridges, sporting facilities and buildings, aged care, maternal and child health, and childcare.

text: In 2000, a goods and services tax (GST) was introduced, similar to the European-style VAT.

text: Employment[edit]

text: According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) seasonally adjusted estimates, the unemployment rate decreased 0.1% to 5.5% in September 2017 while the labor force participation rate remained steady at 65.2%. The trend participation rate for 15-24 year olds increased by 0.3 percentage points to 67.7 per cent while unemployment rate for this group declined by less than 0.1% to 12.7%, decreasing by 0.3% over the year.[84] According to the Australian Bureau of statistics, in August 2017, the quarterly underemployment rate decreased by 0.2% to 8.6% while the quarterly underutilisation rate (the unemployed plus the under-employed)[85] decreased by 0.2% to 14.1 per cent.[86]

text: According to Roy Morgan Research the unemployment rate in August 2017 was 10.2%.[87] while Australian workers who were considered either unemployed or underemployed was estimated to be 19.7% (2.565 million) in the same month.[87] Around 4.247 million were estimated to be in part-time employment.[88]

text: In 2007 228,621 Newstart unemployment allowance recipients were registered, a total that increased to 646,414 or 5.3% of the total labour force by March 2013.[89] As of March 2017, the number of Newstart recipients stands at 746,681 or 5.8% of the labour force; a proportional increase of 0.5% in four years.[90]

text: The accuracy of official unemployment figures has been brought into question in the Australian media due to discrepancies between the methods of different research bodies (Roy Morgan versus the ABS), differing definitions of the term 'unemployed' and the ABS' practice of counting under-employed people as "employed".[85][91]

text: As of May 2017, the Australia labour force were employed in the following industries:[92]

text:
Rank
Industry
No. of employees
('000s)
% of total

1
Health Care and Social Assistance
1562.6
12.9%

2
Retail Trade
1228.4
10.1%

3
Construction
1108.3
9.1%

4
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
1018.5
8.4%

5
Education and Training
971.8
8.0%

6
Manufacturing
906.5
7.5%

7
Accommodation and Food Services
872.1
7.2%

8
Public Administration and Safety
812.0
6.7%

9
Transport, Postal and Warehousing
614.0
5.1%

10
Financial and Insurance Services
436.1
3.6%

11
Administrative and Support Services
411.0
3.4%

12
Wholesale Trade
391.0
3.2%

13
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
296.7
2.4%

14
Mining
235.8
1.9%

15
Arts and Recreation
215.7
1.8%

16
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services
212.8
1.8%

17
Information Media and Telecommunications
211.4
1.0%

18
Utilities
125.5
1.0%

Total Labour Force
12113.3[93]
100.0%

text: Employment for newly qualified professionals[edit]

text: According to the Australian Graduate Survey done by Graduate Careers Australia, full-time employment for newly qualified professionals from various occupations (around four months after the completion of their qualifications) experienced some declines between 2012 and 2015.[94] Some examples are:

text:
Field of Education
2012[95]
2013[96]
2014[97]
2015[98]
Change 2012–2015

Dentistry
83.6%
83.3%
79.6%
86.7%
+3.1%

Computer Science
74.7%
70.3%
67.2%
67%
-7.7%

Architecture
63.9%
60.0%
57.8%
70.2%
+6.3%

Psychology
63.1%
56.1%
52.1%
55.2%
-7.9%

Business Studies
74.5%
71.8%
69.7%
70.8%
-3.7%

Electronic/Computer Engineering
79.5%
80.9%
74.9%
78.1%
-1.4%

Mechanical Engineering
88.4%
82.4%
71.0%
72.2%
-16.2%

Surveying
93.0%
86.5%
83.9%
90.7%
-2.3%

Health Other
73.3%
69.7%
70.4%
69.2%
-4.1%

Nursing (Initial)
92.2%
83.1%
80.5%
79%
-13.2%

Nursing (Post-Initial)
86.1%
71.4%
75.8%
74.9%
-11.2%

Medicine
98.1%
96.9%
97.5%
96.3%
-1.8%

Education (Initial)
74.9%
70.8%
70%
71.8%
-3.1%

Education (Post-Initial)
58.8%
71.4%
69.2%
72.7%
+13.9%

text: The Graduate Careers Survey 2014 explained, "However, GCA’s Beyond Graduation Survey (BGS) indicates that the middle- and longer-term outlook is very positive, with the employment figures for 2010 graduates growing by 14 percentage points three years later."[97] The Beyond Graduation Survey 2013 included 12,384 responses[99] and the Graduate Careers Survey 2014 survey included 113,263 responses ("59.3 per cent of the almost 191,000 Australian resident graduates who were surveyed responded to the AGS.")[97]

text: The professional associations of some of these occupations expressed their criticism of the immigration policy in 2014.[100]

text: States and territories ranked by unemployment rates[edit]

text:
Rank
States
Unemployment rate
(September 2017)[84]

1
 Victoria
6.0%

2
 Queensland
5.9%

3
 South Australia
5.8%

4
 Tasmania
5.7%

5
 Western Australia
5.7%

6
 New South Wales
4.6%

7
 Australian Capital Territory
4.4%

8
 Northern Territory
4.1%

text: Note: All data in the table above are seasonally adjusted, except for the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, which are trend data.[84]

text: In September 2017, South Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 5.8% to 5.9% but the trend unemployment rate fell below 6% for the first time in four years to 5.8%.[101]

text: Sectors[edit]

text: Industry[edit]

text: Mining[edit]

text: Coal is mined primarily in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. 54% of the coal mined in Australia is exported, mostly to East Asia. In 2000-01, 258.5 million tonnes of coal was mined, and 193.6 million tonnes exported. Coal provides about 85% of Australia's electricity production.[102] In fiscal year 2008-09, 487 million tonnes of coal was mined, and 261 million tonnes exported.[103] Australia is the world's leading coal exporter.[104]

text: Australia's Argyle mine is the second largest diamond mine in the world estimated to produce 12.6 million carats in 2014, worth over $500 million.[citation needed] Argyle is known for producing some of the world's most valuable pink and red diamonds.

text: Manufacturing[edit]

text: The manufacturing industry in Australia has declined from 30% of GDP in the 1960s to 12% of GDP in 2007.[105]

text: Agriculture[edit]

text: Agriculture contributes 3% of Australia's GDP at the farm gate and when value-added processing beyond the farm is included this figure rises to 12%.[106] 60% of farm products are exported. Irrigation is an important and widespread practice for a country where many parts receive low rainfall. Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing was the second strongest industry from 2013-2015, with the number of employees growing from 295,495 in February 2013 to 325,321 in February 2015.[107]

text: Services[edit]

text: IT related jobs (such as computer system design and engineering) are defined as Professional, Scientific and Technical Services by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations of Australia. IT job creation occurs mostly in the state capital cities of Australia.[108]

text: Finance[edit]

text: Australia's "big four banks" (National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and Westpac) are among the 'World's 50 Safest Banks' as of April 2012.[109]

text: Between 1991 and 2013, 36,720 mergers and acquisitions with a total known value of US$2,040 billion with the involvement of Australian firms have been announced.[110] In the year 2013, 1,515 transactions valued at US$78 billion had been announced which was a decrease in terms of numbers (−18%) and value (−11%) compared to 2012. The largest takeover or merger transaction involving Australian companies was the 2007 takeover of the Coles Group by Wesfarmers, totalling A$22 billion.[111]

text: Tourism[edit]

text: In the financial year 2010–11, the tourism industry represented 2.5% of Australia's GDP, at a value of about $35 billion to the national economy – equivalent to $94.8 million a day to the Australian economy.[112] Domestic tourism is a significant part of the tourism industry, and was responsible for 73% of the total direct tourism GDP.[112] The 2010–11 financial year saw a record number of overseas arrivals in the financial year, with 5.9 million short-term visitor arrivals to Australia (588 extra visitors a day).[112] Tourism employed 513,700 people in Australia in 2010–11, of which 43.7% were part-time. Tourism also contributed 8.0% of Australia's total export earnings in 2010–11.[112]

text: Media[edit]

text: In 2011–12, Australia was ranked 30th out of 179 countries in accordance to press freedom. Media is a strong industry in Australia, with Fairfax Media and News Corporation representing two of the country's largest media companies.

text: Education[edit]

text: School attendance is compulsory in Australia, from the age of 5 up until approximately 16 (although it varies between each state and territory).[113] Australia also has an adult literacy rate that was estimated to be 99% in 2003.[114]

text: In 2004, the average educational acquirement of the adult population in OECD countries was 11.9 years. This is based on the duration of formal educational programmes. Australia ranked relatively highly in the study, with the population recording slightly over 12 years in education, ranking similarly to many European countries such as Sweden, Ireland, and Poland. Australia was, however, outperformed by Canada, Germany and the United States—which all measured close to 14 years in education.[115]

text: In the Programme for International Student Assessment, Australia regularly scores among the top five of thirty major developed countries (member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Catholic education accounts for the largest non-government sector.

text: University attendance in Australia is expensive, particularly in comparison to other developed nations such as New Zealand, Canada, and France.[115]

text: Logistics[edit]

text: Infrastructure[edit]

text: Energy[edit]

text: The Australian economy is dependent on imported crude oil and petroleum products, the economy's petroleum import dependency is around 80% – crude oil + petroleum products.[116]

text: Trade and economic performance[edit]

text: In the second half of the 20th century, Australian trade shifted away from Europe and North America to Japan and other East Asian markets. Regional franchising businesses, now a $128 billion sector, have been operating co-branded sites overseas for years with new investors coming from Western Australia and Queensland.[117]

text: In the late 19th century, Australia's economic strength relative to the rest of the world was reflected in its GDP. In 1870, Australia had the highest GDP per capita in the world due to economic growth fuelled by its natural resources. However, as Australia's population grew rapidly over the 20th century, its GDP per capita dropped relative to countries such as the US and Norway. However, the Australian economy has been performing nominally better than other economies of the OECD and has supported economic growth for over 20 consecutive years.[118] According to the Reserve Bank of Australia, Australian per capita GDP growth is higher than that of New Zealand, US, Canada and The Netherlands.[119] The past performance of the Australian economy has been heavily influenced by US, Japanese and Chinese economic growth.

text: Australian national debt[edit]

text: Australia's net external debt exceeded $1 trillion in April 2017 as a result of Australia's structural current account deficits.[120] Although these deficits have narrowed over the last decade due to an increase in net merchandise trade, this effect has been partly offset by the return of Australian government debt; net federal debt was estimated at $326.0 billion in the 2016-17 federal budget[121] of which 60% is owed to foreigners.[120] The entirety of the debt has been accumulated through ten straight budget deficits as Australia had negative net government debt (i.e. The Australian government had net positive bond holdings) a decade earlier in the 2006-07 fiscal year.[122]

text: Chinese investment[edit]

text: There is substantial export to China of iron ore, wool, and other raw materials and over 120,000 Chinese students study in Australian schools and universities. China is the largest purchaser of Australian debt.[123] In 2009, offers were made by state-owned Chinese companies to invest 22 billion dollars in Australia's resource extraction industry.[123]

text: The Signing of the China-Australia Free-Trade Agreement, signed November 2014, has the potential to drastically increase Chinese Investments as agriculture and services become more lenient.

text: Australia's special investor visa program introduced in 2012 encouraged Chinese investment. The visa program fast-tracks visas and eases the residency requirement for a permanent visa for those ready to invest over 5 million Australian dollars into state government bonds, specific infrastructure and property investments. Wealthy Chinese interested in retirement houses, top schools and cleaner air, began looking to Australia after Canada started scaling back its investment visa program in 2012 and eliminated its main investor visa program in 2014. In early 2014 it was reported that the Australia's special investor visa was granted to 65 mostly Chinese millionaires who brought over $440 million into the country. By 2017, almost 90% of the more than 1,300 foreigners who used Australia's special investor visa program were from China.[124][125] Australia also has an investor visa program with a required investment of 1 million Australian dollars but with more restrictions and a lengthier period of time to get a permanent visa.[125]

text: In 2017, it was reported that Australia is the third most popular destination for Chinese to invest wealth offshore, with a 7% increase in Chinese private wealth flowing into Australia while interest in the top two investment destinations, Hong Kong and the United States, fell by 18% and 3% respectively. In 2017 there were 1.6 million high net worth Chinese (with at least 10 million Chinese yuan to invest) and 24 percent of the 3000 wealthy Chinese surveyed had private investments in Australia. Migration was one of the top three reasons for Chinese investment offshore.[126]

text: Trade agreements[edit]

text:
FTA (Free Trade Agreement) effective[127]

FTA with New Zealand (effective January 1983)
FTA with Singapore (effective July 2003)
FTA with United States (effective January 2005)
FTA with Thailand (effective January 2005)
FTA with Chile (effective March 2009)
FTArea with AANZFTA (ASEAN, New Zealand) (effective January 2010)
FTA with Malaysia (effective January 2013)
FTA with South Korea (effective December 2014)
FTA with Japan (effective January 2015)
FTA with China (ChAFTA) (effective December 2015)

FTA (Free Trade Agreement) negotiation

FTA with GCC (Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf) (negotiation since 2007)
FTA with PACER Plus (Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations) (negotiation since 2009)
FTA with Indonesia (negotiation since 2010)
FTA with India (negotiation since 2011)
FTA with RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) (negotiation since 2012)
FTA with TiSA (Trade In Services Agreement) (negotiation ongoing)
FTA with TPP (Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership) (negotiation concluded October 2015, not yet into force)

text: Australia's balance of payments[edit]

text: In trade terms, the Australian economy has had persistently large current account deficits (CADs) for more than 50 years.[128][129] One single factor that undermines balance of payments is Australia's narrow export base, making it highly sensitive to the volatility of global primary product prices. In addition, due to a colonial heritage a lot of companies operating in Australia are foreign-owned and as a result, Australia's net income outlay between it and the rest of the world is always negative; this results in persistent current account deficits even during times of positive net merchandise exports.

text: Dependent upon commodities, the Australian government endeavoured to redevelop the Australian manufacturing sector. This initiative, also known as microeconomic reform, helped Australian manufacturing to grow from 10.1% in 1983–1984 to 17.8% in 2003–2004.[130]

text: There are other factors that have contributed to the extremely high current account deficit in Australia such as lack of international competitiveness.[131]

text: However, as Australia's CAD is almost entirely generated by the private sector, as outlined in Professor John Pitchford's 'Consenting Adults Thesis' in the early 1990s, there is an argument that the CAD is not a significant issue. Historically, Australia has relied on overseas capital to fill the gap between domestic savings and investment, and many of these investment opportunities could not have been pursued if Australia did not have access to foreign savings. This suggests that Australia's apparently low savings level and CAD are not necessarily a significant problem. As long as the investment that is being funded by overseas capital inflow generates sufficient returns to pay for the servicing costs in the future, the increase in foreign liabilities can be viewed as sustainable in the longer term.[132]

text: Personal wealth[edit]

text: According to the 2011 Credit Suisse Global Wealth report, Australia's wealth per adult had quadrupled over the past decade, and its total wealth was US$6.4 trillion. In the report Australia was the second wealthiest country in the world behind Switzerland based on average wealth per adult, and had the highest median wealth in the world (US$222,000, nearly four times the amount of each US adult) and a proportion of people with wealth above US$100,000 that was eight times the world average. This was attributed to a resilient Australian dollar, property ownership levels and a strong labor market. Compared to the rest of the world, very few Australians had net worth less than US$1,000, which was attributed to relatively low credit card and student loan debt.[133] In 2013, Australia was identified by the Credit Suisse as retaining its 2012 position as the nation with the second-highest average wealth per adult (US$403,000),[134] however, the nation's poverty rate was also reported to have increased from 10.2% in 2000-01 to 11.8% at the time of the 2013 report on global wealth.[135]

text: Despite the economic slowdown, in the 2014 Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report, Australia continued to have the second highest average wealth per adult (US$430,800) and the highest median wealth (US$225,400), with a total wealth of $7.2 trillion. The average level of real assets (US$319,700) was the second highest in the world after Norway and 60% of gross household assets. The report explained that this partly reflects a large endowment of land and natural resources relative to population, and also high urban real estate prices. Only 6% of Australians had net worth below US$10,000, compared to 29% in the USA and 70% for the world as a whole. The average debt was 20% of gross assets. The proportion of people with wealth above US$100,000 was the highest in the world (eight times the world average). Australia had 3.8% (1,783,000 people) of the top 1% of global wealth holders while having 0.4% of the world’s adult population.[60] The wealth share by Australia's top decile was 51.1% in 2000, 50.7% in 2007, and 51.1% in 2014.[136] In 2016, Australia continued to be the second wealthiest nation in terms of wealth per adult.[27]

text: In 2017, Australia was the world’s top destination for millionaires, beating the United States for the second consecutive year. An estimated 11,000 millionaires moved to Australia in 2016, compared with the 10,000 who moved to the United States. Australia was especially attractive to Chinese millionaires due to its relative proximity, cleaner environment, political and economic stability, and investor visa programs. Also, the primary reason for millionaires leaving China is top schools abroad that will give their children a better education and career connections.[124][125]

text: Mergers and Acquisitions[edit]

text: All in all over 43,150 deals have been completed national, inbound or outbound Australia. This cumulates to an overall value of 2,554 bil. USD. There was a strong upward trend between 1989 and 2007. In this peak year almost 3,100 deals took place, which is almost 60% more than in 2017, the current low. Australian companies are particularly investing in the fields of Metals and Minerals (15% of all deals from Austrlia into forgein countries). Runner up is the Oil and Gas industry with only 6.4%.[137]

text: Here is a list of the top 10 deals with participation of Australian companies as the acquirer or target company:

text:
Date
Acquirer Name
Acquirer Industry
Acquirer Nation
Target Name
Target Industry
Target Country
Value in bil. USD

05/12/2008
Westpac Banking Corp
Banks
Australia
St George Bank Ltd
Banks
Australia
17,932.98

07/02/2007
Wesfarmers Ltd
Food & Beverage Retailing
Australia
Coles Group Ltd
Food & Beverage Retailing
Australia
15,287.79

10/16/2006
Kemble Water Ltd
Other Financials
Australia
Thames Water PLC
Water and Waste Management
United Kingdom
14,888.80

10/27/2006
Cemex SAB de CV
Construction Materials
Mexico
Rinker Group Ltd
Construction Materials
Australia
14,247.73

10/20/2016
Investor Group
Other Financials
Australia
Ausgrid Pty Ltd
Power
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9,976.59

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9,482.42

text: Poverty[edit]

text: In 2017 ACOSS released a new report revealing that poverty is growing in Australia, with an estimated 2.9 million people or 13.3% of all people living below the internationally accepted poverty line it also estimated that there are 731,000 children in poverty, and 17.5% of children under the age of 15 are in poverty.

text: Homelessness[edit]

text: Every Census since 2006 has seen an increase to Homelessness. There were 105,237 people experiencing homelessness in Australia on census night in 2011. This equated to 1 in 200 Australians,[138] and represented an increase of 17% from the 2006 census, with the rate of homelessness increasing from 45 per 10,000 to 49 per 10,000.

text: The number of homeless people in Australia jumped by more than 14,000 — or 14 per cent — in the five years to 2016, according to census data. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said 116,000 people were homeless on census night in 2016, representing 50 homeless people per 10,000.[139]


document_title: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

question_text: mama mia here we go again young cast

question_tokens: mama mia here we go again young cast

root

text: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

text: Plot[edit]

text: Sophie Sheridan is preparing for the grand reopening of her mother Donna's hotel, following Donna's death a year earlier. She is upset because two of her fathers, Harry and Bill, are unable to make it to the reopening and she is having trouble in her relationship with Sky, who is in New York, over her memorializing her mother’s life.

tag: p

text: In 1979, a young Donna is getting ready to travel the world. While in Paris, she meets and parties with Harry. She later misses her boat to Kalokairi but is offered a ride by Bill, and along the way, they are able to help a stranded fisherman, Alexio, make it in time to stop the love of his life from marrying another. Unbeknownst to Donna, Harry has followed her to Greece; but he arrived too late, and sadly watches the boat sailing off in the distance.

text: In the present, Tanya and Rosie arrive to support Sophie with the reopening and it’s revealed that Rosie and Bill have split up. Sophie then visits Sam, who is still grieving over the death of Donna. Back in the past, Donna arrives on the island and while exploring the farmhouse, a sudden storm causes her to discover a spooked horse in the basement. She goes in search of help only to find a young Sam riding his motorcycle and he helps her to save the horse. Back in the present, a storm has caused serious disruption to Sophie’s plans for the grand reopening and prevented media coverage of the event.

text: Back in the past, Donna and Sam are enjoying a whirlwind romance that ends when Donna discovers a picture of Sam’s fiancée in his drawer. A devastated Donna demands that Sam leave the island. In the present, Sam tells Sophie about her value to her mother. Meanwhile, Harry leaves his business deal in Tokyo to support Sophie, and separately Bill gets the same idea. Bill and Harry meet at the docks but are told there are no boats. However, Bill meets the fisherman Alexio and thereby secures boat passage for himself, Harry as well as the newly arrived Sky.

text: In the past, a depressed Donna is heartbroken over Sam but is able to channel her anger into singing with Tanya and Rosie. She meets Bill again and they go out on his boat; while they are gone, Sam returns, having recently ended his engagement for Donna, but is saddened to hear that she is with another man and leaves the island again. Donna discovers she is pregnant but has no idea which one of her three recent lovers is the father. Sofia, the mother of the owner of the bar where Donna and the Dynamos performed, overhears Donna’s wish to stay on the island and offers to let Donna live at her farmhouse and Donna happily accepts. It is there that she eventually gives birth to Sophie.

text: Back in the present, the guests have arrived at the party and Sophie is reunited with her other two fathers and Sky. Sophie reveals to Sky she is pregnant and has never felt closer to her mother, having now understood what her mother went through. Bill and Rosie reunite over their grief for Donna. Sophie’s estranged grandmother and Donna’s mother, Ruby, arrives despite Sophie deciding not to invite her. She reveals that Sky tracked her down in New York and she wants to build a real relationship with Sophie. Sophie then performs a song with Tanya and Rosie in honor of her mother, with her grandmother tearfully telling her afterward how proud she is of her. It is then revealed that the manager of the hotel, Fernando, is Ruby’s ex-lover from 1959 in Mexico, and the two are joyously reunited.

text: Nine months later, Sophie has given birth to a baby boy and everyone has gathered for his christening where Tanya flirts with Fernando’s brother. The ceremony takes place with Donna’s spirit watching over her daughter with pride. All the characters, including Donna and the younger cast, sing "Super Trouper" at a huge party at Hotel Bella Donna.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Amanda Seyfried as Sophie Sheridan, Donna’s 25-year-old daughter.
Meryl Streep as Donna Sheridan, Sophie’s late mother, and wife to Sam.
Lily James as Young Donna, founder of Donna and the Dynamos.
Dominic Cooper as Sky, Sophie’s partner.
Christine Baranski as Tanya Chesham-Leigh, one of Donna’s best friends and former bandmates in Donna and the Dynamos; a rich three-time divorcee.
Jessica Keenan Wynn as Young Tanya
Julie Walters as Rosie Mulligan, one of Donna’s best friends and former bandmates in Donna and the Dynamos; an unmarried fun-loving author.
Alexa Davies as Young Rosie
Pierce Brosnan as Sam Carmichael, an Irish-American architect, and widower of Donna.
Jeremy Irvine as Young Sam
Colin Firth as Harry Bright, a British businessman.
Hugh Skinner as Young Harry
Stellan Skarsgård as Bill Anderson, a Swedish sailor and travel writer, Sofia's great-nephew and as Kurt Anderson, Bill's obese brother.
Josh Dylan as Young Bill
Cher as Ruby Sheridan, Donna’s mother, and Sophie’s grandmother.
Andy García as Fernando Cienfuegos, the manager of the Hotel Bella Donna, an old Mexican lover of Ruby’s and implied to be Donna's father. According to Garcia. “There’s also the interesting anecdote that it’s possible that I may have been the father to Meryl and Lily.” [6]
Omid Djalili as a Greek customs officer
Celia Imrie as Vice-Chancellor
Maria Vacratsis as Sofia, and a local who owns the bar and shack which eventually becomes Donna's home and Bill's great aunt.
Panos Mouzourakis as Lazaros, Sofia's son whose band plays at the bar.
Gerard Monaco as Alexio
Anna Antoniades as Apollonia

tag: ul

text: Cameo appearances

text:
Björn Ulvaeus as an Oxford professor
Benny Andersson as "Waterloo" piano player
Jonathan Goldsmith as Rafael Cienfuegos, Fernando's brother

text: Musical numbers[edit]

text: A soundtrack album was released on July 13, 2018 by Capitol and Polydor Records in the United States and internationally, respectively.[7][8] The album was produced by Benny Andersson, who also served as the album's executive producer alongside Björn Ulvaeus and  Judy Craymer. Each song is featured within the film, with the exception of "I Wonder (Departure)" and "The Day Before You Came".

text:
"When I Kissed the Teacher" – Young Donna and the Dynamos, Vice-Chancellor
"I Wonder (Departure)" – Young Donna and the Dynamos†
"One of Us" – Sophie, Sky
"Waterloo" – Young Harry, Young Donna
"Why Did It Have to Be Me?" – Young Bill, Young Donna, Young Harry
"I Have a Dream" – Young Donna
"Kisses of Fire" – Lazaros
"Andante, Andante" – Young Donna
"The Name of the Game" – Young Donna
"Knowing Me, Knowing You" – Young Donna, Young Sam
"Mamma Mia" – Young Donna and the Dynamos
"Angel Eyes" – Rosie, Tanya, Sophie
"Dancing Queen" – Sophie, Rosie, Tanya, Sam, Bill, Harry
"I've Been Waiting for You" – Sophie, Rosie, Tanya
"Fernando" – Ruby, Fernando
"My Love, My Life" – Young Donna, Donna, Sophie
"Super Trouper" – Ruby, Donna, Rosie, Tanya, Sophie, Sky, Sam, Bill, Harry, Fernando, Young Donna, Young Rosie, Young Tanya, Young Bill, Young Sam, Young Harry
"The Day Before You Came" – Donna†

tag: ol

text: † Songs featured on the soundtrack album but omitted from the film.

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: Due to Mamma Mia!'s financial success, Hollywood studio chief David Linde, co-chairman of Universal Pictures, told the Daily Mail that it would take a while, but there could be a sequel. He stated that he would be delighted if Judy Craymer, Catherine Johnson, Phyllida Lloyd, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus agreed to the project, noting that there are still many ABBA songs to make use of.[9]

text: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again was announced on May 19, 2017, with a release date of July 20, 2018.[10] It was written and directed by Ol Parker.[11] On September 27, 2017, Benny Andersson confirmed 3 ABBA songs that would be featured in the film: "When I Kissed the Teacher," "I Wonder (Departure)," and "Angeleyes."[12] “I Wonder (Departure)” was cut from the film, but is included on the soundtrack album.

text: Casting[edit]

text: On June 1, 2017, it was announced that Seyfried would return as Sophie.[13] Later that month, Dominic Cooper confirmed that he would return for the sequel, along with Streep, Firth and Brosnan as Sky, Donna, Harry, and Sam, respectively.[14] In July 2017, Baranski was also confirmed to return as Tanya.[15] On July 12, 2017, Lily James was cast to play the role of young Donna.[16] On August 3, 2017, Jeremy Irvine and Alexa Davies were also cast in the film, with Irvine playing Brosnan's character Sam in a past era, and Hugh Skinner to play Young Harry,  Davies as a young Rosie, played by Julie Walters.[17] On August 16, 2017, it was announced that Jessica Keenan Wynn had been cast as a young Tanya, who is played by Baranski.[18] Julie Walters and Stellan Skarsgård also reprised their roles as Rosie and Bill, respectively.[19] On October 16, 2017, it was announced that singer and actress Cher had joined the cast, in her first on-screen film role since 2010,[20] and her first film with Streep since Silkwood.

text: Filming[edit]

text: Principal photography on the film began on August 12, 2017 in Croatia, including the island of Vis.[21][22][23][24][21] In October 2017, the cast gathered at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England, to film song and dance numbers with Cher.[20] Filming wrapped on December 2, 2017.[25]

text: Release[edit]

text: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again was released on July 20, 2018 by Universal Pictures, in the UK, US and other selected countries in both standard and IMAX formats.[26][3] The film premiered on July 16, 2018 at the Hammersmith Apollo in London.[27]

text: Marketing[edit]

text:
The first trailer for the film was released on December 21, 2017, in front of Pitch Perfect 3, another Universal Pictures film. Cher performed "Fernando" at the Las Vegas CinemaCon on April 25, 2018, after footage of the film was shown.[citation needed]
Universal sponsored YouTube stars the Merrell Twins to perform a cover version of the song Mamma Mia to promote the film.[28]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: As of  August 12, 2018[update], Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again has grossed $103.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $177 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $280.8 million, against a production budget of $75 million.[2]

text: In June 2018, three weeks prior to its release, official industry tracking had the film debuting to $27–33 million,[29] which increased to as much as $36 million by the week of its release.[30] It made $14.3 million on its first day, including $3.4 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $35 million, finishing second, behind fellow newcomer The Equalizer 2 ($36 million), and besting the opening of the first film ($27.8 million) by over 24%.[28][31] It fell 57% to $15.1 million in its second weekend, finishing second behind newcomer Mission: Impossible – Fallout.[32][33] In its third weekend the film grossed $9 million, dropping to fourth place, and $5.8 million in its fourth weekend, finishing seventh.[34][35]

text: In the United Kingdom, the film grossed $12.7 million in its opening weekend, topping the box office and achieving the fourth biggest opening for a film in 2018.[36] In its second weekend of international release, the film made $26.6 million (for a running total of $98.6 million). Its largest new markets were France ($1.7 million), Poland ($1.3 million), Switzerland ($223,000) and Croatia ($151,000), while its best holdovers were Australia ($9.5 million), the UK ($8.6 million) and Germany ($8.2 million).[37]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 194 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again doubles down on just about everything fans loved about the original—and my my, how can fans resist it?"[39] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[40] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, the same score as its predecessor, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 83% overall positive score.[28]

text: Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian termed the sequel as "weirdly irresistible" and gave it three out of five stars. He described his reaction to the first film as "a combination of hives and bubonic plague," but concedes that this time, the relentlessness and greater self-aware comedy made him smile. He concludes: "More enjoyable than I thought. But please. Enough now."[41] Mark Kermode of The Observer gave the film five stars and commented, "This slick sequel delivers sharp one-liners, joyously contrived plot twists and an emotional punch that left our critic reeling."[42] Joy Watson from Exclaim! thoroughly enjoyed the movie, saying, "With multitalented writer and director Ol Parker at the helm, and perhaps more importantly, Richard Curtis (king of the British rom-com) behind the scenes to balance out the cheesiness, Here We Go Again builds giddy energy and tension throughout until Cher arrives in a helicopter to blow the whole thing sky high with an ode to "Fernando." Pure bliss."[43]

text: Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film two and a half stars out of five, noting the absence of Streep for the majority of the film hindered his enjoyment, and saying, "her absence is deeply felt since the three-time Oscar winner sang and danced her heart out as Donna Sheridan".[44] Lindsay Bahr of Associated Press awarded the film three out of four stars, calling it "wholly ridiculous", but complimenting its self-awareness. She also praised James' performance and singing talent.[45] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the sequel a mixed review, awarding it two stars out of four, criticizing the reprises of "Dancing Queen" and "Super Trouper" as uninspired, and feeling that some of the musical numbers dragged the pacing. He considered the younger counterparts to the main characters "energetic" and "likeable."[46] Stephanie Zacharek of Time gave the film a mixed review, writing "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is atrocious. And wonderful. It's all the reasons you should never go to the movies. And all the reasons you should race to get a ticket."[47]


document_title: Belshazzar's feast

question_text: which king saw the writing on the wall

question_tokens: which king saw the writing on the wall

text: Belshazzar's feast

text: Summary[edit]

text: Narrative summary[edit]

text: This summarizes the narrative, as found in C. L. Seow's translation of the text in his commentary on Daniel.[1]

text: King Belshazzar holds a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and commands that the Temple vessels from Jerusalem be brought in so that they can drink from them, but as the Babylonians drink, a hand appears and writes on the wall. Belshazzar calls for his magicians and diviners to interpret the writing, but they are unable even to read them. The queen advises Belshazzar to send for Daniel, renowned for his wisdom. Daniel is brought in, and the king offers to make him third in rank in the kingdom if he can interpret the writing. Daniel declines the honour, but agrees to the request. He reminds Belshazzar that Nebuchadnezzar's greatness was the gift of God, and that when he became arrogant God threw him down until he learned humility: "the Most High God has sovereignty over the kingdom of mortals, and sets over it whomever He will." Belshazzar has drunk from the vessels of God's Temple and praised his idols, but he has not given honour to God, and so God sent this hand and wrote these words:

text: מנא מנא תקל ופרסין

text: Daniel reads the words "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN" and interprets them for the king: "MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; TEKEL, you have been weighed ... and found wanting;" and "PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed in purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made… that he should rank third in the kingdom; [and] that very night Belshazzar the Chaldean (Babylonian) king was killed, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom."[3]

text: Writing on the wall[edit]

text: The Chaldean wise men are unable to read or interpret the writing on the wall, but Daniel does so by supplying vowels in two different ways, first reading them as nouns, then interpreting them as verbs.[4] The nouns are monetary weights: a mənê, equivalent to a Jewish mina or sixty shekels (several ancient versions have only one mənê instead of two), a təqêl, equivalent to a shekel, and p̄arsîn, meaning "half-pieces".[5] The last involves a word-play on the name of the Persians (pārās in Hebrew), suggesting not only that they are to inherit Belshazzar's kingdom, but that they are two peoples, Medes and Persians.[5] Daniel then interprets the words as verbs, based on their roots: mənê is interpreted as meaning "numbered", təqêl, from a root meaning to weigh, as meaning "weighed" (and found wanting), and pərês (פְּרַס), the singular form of p̄arsîn, from a root meaning "to divide", denoting that the kingdom is to be "divided" and given to the Medes and Persians.[6] If the "half-pieces" means two half-shekels, then the various weights—a mənê or sixty shekels, another shekel, and two half-shekels—add up to 62, which the tale gives as the age of Darius the Mede, indicating that God's will is being worked out.[7]

text: Composition and structure[edit]

text:
Chapters of the Book of Daniel

Chapter 1: Induction into Babylon
Chapter 2: Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
Chapter 3: The Fiery Furnace
Chapter 4: Nebuchadnezzar's Madness
Chapter 5: Belshazzar's Feast
Chapter 6: Daniel in the Lions's Den
Chapter 7: The Four Beasts
Chapter 8: The Ram, He-Goat and Horn
Chapter 9: The Seventy Weeks
Chapters 10-12: Daniel's final vision

Additions to Daniel

Song of the Three Holy Children
Susanna and the Elders
Bel and the Dragon

v
t
e

tag: table

text: It is generally accepted that the Book of Daniel originated as a collection of folktales among the Jewish community in Babylon in the Persian and early Hellenistic periods (5th to 3rd centuries BC), and was later expanded in the Maccabean era (mid-2nd century) with the visions of chapters 7–12.[8] Modern scholarship agrees that Daniel is a legendary figure,[9] and it is possible that his name was chosen for the hero of the book because of his reputation as a wise seer in Hebrew tradition.[10]

text: Chapters 2–7 of the book form a chiasm (a poetic structure in which the main point or message of a passage is placed in the centre and framed by further repetitions on either side):[11]

text:
A. (chapter 2) – A dream of four kingdoms replaced by a fifth

B. (chapter 3) – Daniel's three friends in the fiery furnace

C. (chapter 4) – Daniel interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar
C'. (chapter 5) – Daniel interprets the handwriting on the wall for Belshazzar

B'. (chapter 6) – Daniel in the lions' den

A'. (chapter 7) – A vision of four world kingdoms replaced by a fifth

text: Daniel 5 is thus composed as a companion-piece to Daniel 4, the tale of the madness of Nebuchadnezzar, the two giving variations on a single theme. This is spelled out in chapter 5 when Daniel draws a direct parallel between the two kings: the fate of Belshazzar illustrates what happens when a king does not repent.[12]

text: Daniel 5 does not divide neatly into scenes and scholars do not agree on its structure. The following is one possible outline:[13]

text:
The king's banquet and the mysterious oracle: the king desecrates the sacred vessels, the hand writes on the wall (verses 1–6)
Attempts to interpret the oracle: the Chaldean sages fail, the queen recommends Daniel (verses 7–12)
Daniel appears before Belshazzar: Daniel addresses and rebukes the king, interprets the oracle, and is rewarded (verses 10–12)
Conclusion: Belshazzar's death, Darius' accession (verses 30–31)

text: Historical background[edit]

text: The story is set around the fall of Babylon, when on 12 October 539 BC the Persian conqueror Cyrus the Great entered the city. Its last king, Nabonidus, was captured, and his fate is unknown, although he may have been exiled.[14] Several details in the text do not match the known historical facts.[15] Belshazzar is portrayed as king of Babylon and son of Nebuchadnezzar, but was actually the son of King Nabonidus, one of Nebuchadnezzar's successors, and never became king.[15] The conqueror is named as Darius the Mede, but no such individual is known to history; and the invaders were not Medes, but Persians.[15] This is typical of the story's genre, in which historical accuracy is not an essential element.[16]

text: The constituent elements of the Book of Daniel were assembled shortly after the end of the Maccabean crisis, which is to say shortly after 164 BC.[17] The tales making up chapters 2 to 6 are the earliest part, dating from the late 4th or early 3rd centuries. Their setting is Babylon, and there is no reason to doubt that they were composed in the Babylonian diaspora (i.e., among the Jewish community living in Babylon and Mesopotamia under Persian and then Greek rule). They reflect a society in which foreign rulers were not necessarily malevolent (Belshazzar rewards Daniel and raises him to high office); this is a marked contrast with the visions of chapters 7–12, where the sufferings of the Jews are the result of actions by the evil 2nd century king Antiochus IV Epiphanes.[18]

text: Belshazzar's feast is a legend, conforming to the subgenre of the "tale of court contest". This has been complicated by the inclusion of Daniel's indictment of Belshazzar's pride and his failure to honour the God of Israel; as a result the tale has a double ending, in which Daniel is first showered with rewards and honours for interpreting the omen, and the king is then punished to fulfill the sentence pronounced by Daniel.[19]

text: Chapters 2 and 7 tell how all worldly kingdoms will come to an end and be replaced by the kingdom of God, and chapters 3 and 6 tell how pious Jews withstand the arrogance of earthly kings and are rescued by the God of Israel. Chapters 4 and 5 form the centre and carry the most important message in their parallel but contrasting tales of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. The first is humbled by God, learns his lesson (he acknowledges the ultimate kingship of the Jewish God), and is restored to his throne; Belshazzar, in contrast, learns nothing from Nebuchadnezzar's example, blasphemes against God, and has his kingdom given to others.[2]

text: In art and popular culture[edit]

text: Belshazzar's Feast[edit]

text: There are many depictions of "Belshazzar's Feast" in the arts. These include, in chronological order:

text:
1635: The painting Belshazzar's Feast by Rembrandt
1821: The painting Belshazzar's Feast by the English artist John Martin
1817–1843: The painting Belshazzar's Feast by the American artist Washington Allston
1983–1984: Belshazzar's Feast, the Writing on Your Wall, installation artwork by artist Susan Hiller

text:
13th–15th century: The Play of Daniel from Beauvais Cathedral
1745: The oratorio Belshazzar by George Frideric Handel
1840: The ballad Belsatzar by Robert Schumann
1860: The cantata Belshazzar's Feast. The Fall of Babylon: A Dramatic Cantata in Ten Scenes by Civil War-era songwriter George Frederick Root
1906: The incidental music to Hjalmar Procopé's play by Jean Sibelius
1931: The choral work Belshazzar's Feast by the English composer William Walton[20]
1937: Mene, Mene, Tekel song in the musical review Pins and Needles by Arthur Arent, Marc Blitzstein, Emmanuel Eisenberg, Charles Friedman, David Gregory, Joseph Schrank, Arnold B. Horwitt, John Latouche, and Harold Rome and music and lyrics by Harold Rome.
1957: A song by Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two (also covered but unreleased by Bob Dylan & The Band during the 1967 Basement Tapes sessions)
1995: Belshazzar's Feast (band), Folk duo Paul Sartin (vocals, violin, oboe and whistle) and Paul Hutchinson (accordion).
1998: The song God's Magic Finger by The Residents, released on the album Wormwood
2006: The song "Writing On The Wall" by Underoath
2007: Belsatzar after Heine for Speaking Voice and Cello by Graham Waterhouse
2013: Referenced in Sting's song The Last Ship
2015: The song Mene by Brand New (band)
2015: "Writing's on the Wall" (Sam Smith song), from the James Bond film Spectre

text:
1815: The poem Vision of Belshazzar by Lord Byron in his Hebrew Melodies
1820s: The poem Belsazar by Heinrich Heine
1906: The play by Hjalmar Procopé
1930s: In Howard Phillips Lovecraft's novella, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, the character Zadok Allen says "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin" to the narrator.

text: Writing on the wall[edit]

text: References to the "writing on the wall" include:

text:
The incident is recounted and illustrated in the Pearl Poet's poem Cleanness.
In John Cheever's short story "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin," the narrator encounters graffiti (one example running several pages) in various public washrooms.
In Robert Louis Stevenson's book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jekyll explains that his experience as Mr. Hyde was "like the Babylonian finger on the wall, to be spelling out the letters of my judgment".
In the musical revue Pins and Needles, a song entitled "Mene, Mene, Tekel" uses the tale as allegory describing contemporary social injustices.
In Samuel Beckett's Endgame, Hamm asks of Clov, "and what do you see on your wall? Mene, mene? Naked bodies?"
In Voltairine de Cleyre's last poem, "Written in Red", the first verse begins:

Written in red their protest stands,
For the Gods of the World to see;
On the dooming wall their bodiless hands
Have blazoned "Upharsin," and flaring brands
Illumine the message: "Seize the lands!
Open the prisons and make men free!"
Flame out the living words of the dead
Written—in—red.

text:
In Jose Rizal's second novel El Filibusterismo, Crisostomo Ibarra, disguised as Simoun, planted an explosive disguised as a kerosene lamp in a reception party in Captain Tiago's house in an attempt to kill all high-ranking officials of the society and the church attending. He also leaves a note behind, "Mene, Thecel, Pares", plus his name in his own handwriting.
In the novel City of Ashes, part of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, Clary uses her stele to write a rune on Valentine's boat. Although the rune simply means "Open", Clary's extraordinary powers amplify it so as to destroy the ship by ripping apart its bolts. Valentine looks on in awed horror and says, "mene mene tekel upharsin", because he realizes that Clary's powers represent a massive change in the order of things, which will lead to the Clave's, or his own, doom.
In Philip K. Dick's novel A Maze of Death, Seth and Mary Morley lived in "Tekel Upharsin Kibbutz" before moving to Delmak-O.
In V. by Thomas Pynchon, Rachel leaves a written note on a wall to the schlemihl Benny Profane. In response to it, Stencil states to Profane, "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin", implying his impending demise. (Chapt. 15, pg 448)
The Einstürzende Neubauten song Wüste also has the line "mene, mene tekel, upharshin" in the lyrics.
"The Writing on the Wall" is the finale song of the musical adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
The characters of Bertie and Aunt Dahlia discuss a reference to Belshazzar's Feast in chapter 9 of the novel Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
The song "Kodachrome", also by Paul Simon, includes the lyric "my lack of education hasn't hurt me none / I can read the writing on the wall."
In Chapter 119 (The Candles) of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, Ishmael ominously describes the appearance of St. Elmo's Fire ("The corpusants!") on their whaling ship, the Pequod, when he writes, "when God's burning finger has been laid on the ship, when His 'Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin' has been woven into the shrouds and the cordage."
In Defrage's song "Save Us from Religion", the first song on their album Jackal, "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" is sung at 3:01.
In Andrei Tarkovsky's film Stalker, the Writer says "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" while talking to the Professor (around 01:14:00, or in TV version - 2 episode, around 00:11:00).
The song "The Last Ship" by Sting hyperbolically narrates the pilgrimage to Newcastle carried out most notably by the risen Jesus of Nazareth, and other guests haunted by the significance of the last ship sailing from Newcastle's morbid shipbuilding industry, understanding the occasion as though it were "that strange moving finger at Balthazar's feast".
In the episode "Season's Beatings", from season 7 of American Dad!, Steve becomes an Apostate of Satan and repeats the phrases, "Satana, Satana", and "Mene, Mene, Tekel," throughout the duration of his apostasy.
The song Mene, by the American band, Brand New, references the idiom with the lyrics "Written on the wall, the letters plain and tall".
In the song "Omen" by The Prodigy, there is a line "Now the writing's on the wall, it won't go away".

text:
The post-hardcore band Underoath's song "Writings On The Walls"
Miklos Banffy's The Transylvanian Trilogy consists of the volumes They Were Counted, They Were Found Wanting and They Were Divided.