KEY POINTS:
Australia has served as an economic crystal ball, which the former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan used to see what might be lie ahead for the US economy, he says in his memoir.
The Age of Turbulence, which has just been published in the US, sees Mr Greenspan praise Australia as a model of what can happen when governments deregulate economies, Fairfax newspapers report.
He credited former prime minister Bob Hawke with making "a series of significant but painful reforms, especially in labour market reform".
Mr Greenspan also praised Treasurer Peter Costello for his perceptiveness on global issues and Prime Minister John Howard for his commitment to an independent Reserve Bank.
"I know I can't generalise on the basis of a few years of observations, but I nonetheless found myself during my tenure at the Fed looking to Australia as the leading indicator of many aspects of US economic performance," he said.
Mr Greenspan said the Australian housing boom, which peaked in 2003 and was followed by a slump in property prices, occurred two years ahead of a similar pattern in the US.
Mr Greenspan said Australia and New Zealand were particularly interesting in how they developed after adopting market opening reforms and gradually increasing ties with Asia, especially China.
He also pointed to the tariff reductions and the floating of the Australian dollar which he said "sparked an amazing economic turnaround".
- AAP
