with a powerful, secretive, and paternalistic government. The state promotes
and spends money on elite sports to an extent unparalleled in other democ-
racies, and the AIS and similar state-level projects have few international
parallels since the end of European communism. Australia’s lack of regulatory
interference and generous public subsidies for professional team sports are
also extreme in the twenty-first century, when sports industries in other
jurisdictions (and especially their formerly idiosyncratic labour markets) are
becoming more like other sectors of the economy. Elsewhere, sports manage-
ment has become increasingly professional, while in Australia there is a
contrast between high levels of technical professionalism but ultimate eco-
nomic decision-making often being in the hands of a self-perpetuating clique.
In sum, the sports industry offers a mirror of Australian Exceptionalism, but
little explanation of the phenomenon.
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Australia’s Economic Mores