Latest News
ACE 2025
Call For Abstracts Now Open - Closing 1 April
ACE 2025 will provide a forum that allows us to discuss experiences, and review concepts and ideas. The Organising Committee will be seeking to create a program that addresses a spread of issues and professional experiences that attract a broad discipline of attendees. We welcome you to submit an abstract for inclusion into the program.
Trump's impact on the Australian Economy
Poll 66
Top economists say Trump’s policies will hit Australian economic growth and push up inflation and interest rates in the US.
Responses (38)
Housing Reform
Poll 65
Panellists are unanimous in believing Australia’s housing market is in crisis.
Offered a choice of 14 measures identified by the Economic Society of Australia as likely to restrain prices for buyers and renters, none of the 49 leading economists polled picked: “do nothing, the market will determine appropriate prices”.
Responses (967)
Vale, Philip Macgregor Norman
Philip, an Honorary Fellow of the Economic Society of Australia died recently after a short illness.
As a long-time member of the Victoria branch, he was President and also Treasurer. After his father Arthur Norman died, his mother Jean Macgregor married Richard Downing, the Ritchie Professor of Economic Research, at the University of Melbourne and editor of the Economic Record.
Awards 2024
A number of prestigious awards were bestowed upon worthy economists at ACE24, held in Adelaide. Read on to find out who won the 2024 ESA National Awards.
Budget 2024
Poll 64
Panelists were asked to comment on two questions:
Is the budget likely to achieve its aim of getting inflation back within the RBA target band by the end of this year and back to 2.75% by mid next year?
And
On May 14, the government delivered a budget designed, in the Treasurer's words, to "focus on fighting inflation in the near term and then growth in the medium term " - What grade would you give the budget, given that objective? A, B, C, D, E or F
Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
Responses (990)
ACE 2024
The Australian Conference of Economists was held in Adelaide, SA from 10-12 July. Presented papers will be published on our website in due course.
Next year's ACE will be held at UTS in Sydney and coincides with the Society's 100 year anniversary. Preparations are well underway to bring members a very special event - please stay tuned for more details about ACE25. In the meantime, hold the date of 6-9 July 2025 and register your interest via the dedicated ACE25 website.
IEA Update from Dani Rodrik
The most important development to report is that our project on Advancing Women in Leadership in Economics, with the acronym IEA-WE, has been fully launched. This is a multi-year project that has been generously funded by Co-Impact Foundation and the Open Society Foundation.
Stiglitz Essay Prize Award
The Economic Society of Australia sponsors an annual Stiglitz Essay Prize in honour of Joseph Stiglitz. The Prize is awarded by the International Economic Association, an association founded in 1950 to support the study of economics across countries, with a particular focus on emerging economies. The ESA is a member of the IEA.
Christopher Parsons (UWA), presented the award on behalf of the Society.
Unreserved - RBA's latest release of digitised archival records
The latest tranche of archival records has been released in the Bank’s digital archive, Unreserved. It includes early economic analysis conducted by the central bank from 1930 to 1970.
Events
Federal Budget 2025-26 Analysis
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Mar 26, 2025, 5:30 am
From: Australian Capital Territory
The ESA ACT Branch invites you to attend a presentation on the 2025-26 Federal Budget.
This year's briefing will be delivered by Peter Martin(ABC) with Melissa Coade (The Mandarin) at the Canberra Soccer Club.
They will provide their insights and an open question forum will follow.
Sorry: Bookings are now closed
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Great Game On
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Mar 26, 2025, 5:30 pm
Come along for an insightful talk on the modern 'Great Game'. The 'Great game’ refers to an old idea from the 19th century – a shorthand for British and Russian imperial competition in Eurasia, mainly based on thinking by the British that the Russians were after India. An idea with little validity but a widely accepted phenomenon. This talk will explore the parallels between the 19th century 'Great game' and today's geopolitical landscape. The new game is between China and the US – and Eurasia is the hinge.
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Real Incomes, Equality and Productivity 2015-25 and policy responses to improve real incomes, equality and productivity
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Mar 26, 2025, 6:00 pm
ESA NSW Branch is delighted to have special guests Dr Craig Emerson and Michael Brennan speak to us on Real Incomes, Equality and Productivity at an engaging panel discussion and networking event on Wednesday, 26 March.
Following the talks and audience engagement on the issues, attendees will have the opportunity to catch-up over light refreshments.
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WEN: Where a career in economics can take you!
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Thursday Mar 27, 2025, 6:00 pm
From: Australian Capital Territory
Interested to learn more about where a career in economics can take you?
Join us at ANU or online from 5:30pm for a panel discussion from 6-7pm with guest panelists:
Steph Gorecki-Natik, Sophie Ellis, Maddie Sutch and Ro McCrossin, who have worked across the public and private sectors, moderated by Jess Stone (ACT WEN).
This is a free, in person or online event. Registration is required. Please select how you intend to participate when registering.
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Monetary Policy: Theory vs Practice
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Apr 2, 2025, 12:15 pm
In theory, monetary policy is relatively straightforward. In practice, it is anything but. The gap between theory and practice was brought into sharp focus by the recent review of the RBA. Many observers had expected the review to focus on monetary policy objectives – a relatively theoretical aspect of monetary policy making. Instead, it surprised many by placing a major emphasis on very practical aspects such as institutional governance, culture and communications. This talk will discuss why these often overlooked practical aspects of monetary policy are, in fact, essential to good monetary policy making.
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Policy Versus Politics: Why Voters Hate Good Economic Policy
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Apr 2, 2025, 5:30 pm
Join us for an engaging evening with renowned economist Stephen Koukoulas as he delves into the intricate relationship between economic policy and political strategy. In this timely talk, Koukoulas will provide a critical analysis of the state of the economy and provide a critical analysis of the upcoming federal budget as we approach the election period.
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Globalization and the Environment - ONLINE ONLY
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Thursday Apr 3, 2025, 12:00 pm
For many countries, the race to net zero interacts in complicated ways with trade policy. There has long been research on how globalisation and international economic policy affect the environment: How do tariffs affect greenhouse gas emissions? Does globalisation cause a “race to the bottom” in environmental policy?
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What Drives Bond Yields - EXCLUSIVE Members webinar - ONLINE ONLY
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Thursday Apr 3, 2025, 12:30 pm
Where Have All the Economics Students Gone - ONLINE ONLY
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Tuesday Apr 8, 2025, 12:00 pm
The size and diversity of the economics student population has declined sharply since the early 1990s, raising concerns about economic literacy in society and the long-term health of the economics discipline. Interest in studying economics at university is low, even for those who studied economics in Year 12.
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Business lunch with The Honourable David Janetzki MP, Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Minister for Home Ownership
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Apr 9, 2025, 11:45 am
In conjunction with the McKell Institute and Suncorp, ESA QLD's first business lunch for 2025 will feature an address by The Honourable David Janetzki MP, Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Minister for Home Ownership. With his wide-ranging portfolios, expect to hear some great insights from the Treasurer on the outlook for the economy, the budget, energy and housing in Queensland.
View...How much is dotty art worth - physical or digital?
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Apr 16, 2025, 5:45 pm
From: Australian Capital Territory
Proving that economics can be both fascinating and fun, Dr. John Hawkins and Jack Wasson from the University of Canberra will unpack the economics behind Damien Hirst's Currency.
British artist, Damien Hirst, recently sold some of his dotty paintings. The twist was that buyers had to choose whether to have them on paper or as an electronic Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) - they could not have both. The NFT had a life of one year - after which they could be exchanged for coloured dots on an A4 sheet of paper. If the NFT was not exchanged, the corresponding paper would be burned and disappear forever.
Guest Speakers: Dr John Hawkins and Jack Wasson
UC Economics students FOC : limits and conditions apply.
The Promo Code will be provided internally from the Faculty of Business, Government and Law.
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LinkedUP! May
Date: Thursday May 15, 2025, 5:30 pm
It’s time for another LinkedUP! The WEN Queensland branch invites you to join us for an informal networking evening. Come along to connect or reconnect with old and new WEN members.
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The 2025 - 2026 Victorian State Budget Review
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday May 21, 2025, 12:30 pm
In May the Victorian Government will deliver its 2025-26 Budget. What are the policy priorities for the budget by the Allan Government, and what does the budget say about the state of the Victorian economy?
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LinkedUP! August
Date: Thursday Aug 14, 2025, 5:30 pm
It’s time for another LinkedUP! The WEN Queensland branch invites you to join us for an informal networking evening. Come along to connect or reconnect with old and new WEN members.
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LinkedUP! November
Date: Thursday Nov 13, 2025, 5:30 pm
It’s time for another LinkedUP! The WEN Queensland branch invites you to join us for an informal networking evening. Come along to connect or reconnect with old and new WEN members.
View...Welcome
Welcome to the National website of the Economic Society of Australia (The Society). The Society is primarily concerned with promoting discussion and debate of economic issues within Australia.
