Economic growth has been uneven and patchy, and financial concerns keep recurring, with waves of positive and negative sentiment sweeping global markets. Australians feel the effects of those swings in sentiment. Meanwhile, the emerging world continues to expand, and it is not all due simply to exports to the rich world, even though the world could still do with some more re-balancing.
There is an epochal change occurring, and Australians are also feeling that. It is overwhelmingly positive for us in net terms, even if our tendency to dwell on the downside is more prominently on display at present. The future is uncertain, but it always is.