Tim Harcourt spent years traversing the globe in pursuit of opportunities for industry as the chief economist at Australia's trade marketing organisation, Austrade. Now "the airport economist" has landed as the newly appointed JW Neville Fellow in Economics at the Australian School of Business, bringing a unique perspective on Australia's place in the global economy. The lucky country has often created its own luck, and fears of Australia's over-dependence on China are unfounded, suggests Harcourt. He foresees an export future beyond "rocks and crops" in far-flung markets across Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Stand by.