Latest News
AGEW 2025
The 8th Australian Gender Economics Workshop (#AGEW2025) is hosted by the University of Wollongong in partnership with the Women in Economics Network and is organised by Alfredo Paloyo. The workshop will take place on 6‒7 February 2025 in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Wollongong is in Dharawal Country.
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.
Western Australian GST deal
Poll 63
April Poll - panellists were asked about the GST deal with Western Australia. The following two questions were posed:
"Is the long-standing arrangement broadly the best method of distributing the nationally-collected GST revenue?" and "Should the 2018 changes be kept or scrapped?"
Responses (997)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.
Transition to net zero - ape the US Inflation Reduction Act?
Poll 62
Panellists were asked "Which of the options set out below best describes the kind of approach the Australian government should take to the US Inflation Reduction Act? (Pick 1)"
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.
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.
Events
WEN Credible Economist Writing Competition - ONLINE ONLY
Date: Monday Sep 30, 2024, 6:30 pm
The Women in Economics Network was created to promote and support the careers of female economists in Australia. As part of this, the Credible Economist blog series promotes public contributions by female economists and on the topic of gender economics.
View...National Accounts - updated economic statistics
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Tuesday Oct 8, 2024, 5:45 pm
From: Australian Capital Territory
Updated economic statistics for the contemporary economy
International standards for the System of National Accounts will be endorsed by the United Nations in 2025. Other standards (such as Balance of Payments and Government Financial Statistics) will follow shortly after. The ABS has started planning for these updates. What are these updates and the key benefits of these changes?
Sorry: Bookings are now closed
View...Young Economists – Housing Panel Event – The current economic conditions of the Queensland housing market
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Tuesday Oct 15, 2024, 5:30 pm
Please join us to hear from a panel of housing policy experts, to discuss the current economic conditions facing Queensland’s housing market, the challenges buyers and renters are facing, and what the future might hold. The event will be catered with food and drink, so be sure to RSVP to secure a spot at this exciting event.
View...Causal inference, behavioural insights and experimental methods in economics: An introduction
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Tuesday Oct 15, 2024, 5:30 pm
Join Professor Dmitry Ryvkin and Qin Wu as they examine the differences between behavioural and experimental economics, focusing on their roles in understanding economic decision-making.
View...The impact of Industrial Relations changes on workers – do economists agree? - ONLINE ONLY
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Friday Oct 18, 2024, 12:00 pm
The last few years have seen significant legislation changes in the area of industrial relations. The prior decade also saw significant changes in firms’ hiring practices, and an explosion of platform work, considered by some to be a loophole in current labour legislation.
View...Making gambling a better, safer bet
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Tuesday Oct 22, 2024, 5:30 pm
Join Elizabeth Baldwin for a discussion about how we can prevent gambling harm by reducing exposure, introducing mandatory pre-commitment, and improving support services.
View...PANEL DISCUSSION: Infrastructure Budget Blowouts
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Tuesday Oct 22, 2024, 5:30 pm
Why do infrastructure projects blow their budgets and what are the implication for project evaluation and delivery?
ESA and Young Economists Queensland are delighted to host a panel discussion featuring economists, policy and business case experts as they discuss cost overruns of infrastructure projects and explore the economic, social and factors, political influences, and delivery pitfalls that contribute to these challenges.
View...WEN Networking Event: A Conversation with Grattan CEO, Aruna Sathanapally
Date: Thursday Oct 24, 2024, 6:30 pm
Join the WEN New South Wales for an inspiring evening with Aruna Sathanapally, CEO of the Grattan Institute followed by a chance to network with fellow WEN members over drinks.
View...Professional Development Workshop: Professional Ethics for Economists
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Friday Oct 25, 2024, 2:00 pm
This workshop considers the basis and content of economists’ moral responsibilities, codes of ethics for economists, relationship to organisational codes of conduct, and role of the Economic Society in professional ethics.
View...Carbon Pricing in the National Electricity Market
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Oct 30, 2024, 12:15 pm
The Australian Energy Regulator has recently released guidance on the cost to attach to carbon emissions in the evaluation of energy investments. This seminar will provide an overview of the issues and explain the AER's approach.
View...The Economic Consequences of Mr Trump, Mr Biden and Another Mr Trump
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Oct 30, 2024, 5:30 pm
Professor Garnaut and the late Max Corden co-authored "The Economic Consequences of Mr Trump" , published in the Australian Economic Review. In Max Corden's honour, Professor Garnaut's 2023 Corden Lecture "The Economic Consequences of Mr Trump and Mr Biden" continued the discussion, applying the approach that Max took to analysing economic problems to one big question: should Australia emulate Mr Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and the policies in which it is embedded?
On the cusp of the next presidential election and following the 29 October 2024 release of his new book "Let’s Tax Carbon: and Other Ideas for a Better Australia", Professor Garnaut speaks on the prospects of a return of Trump to Presidency.
View...WEN Mentoring Retreat 2024
Event Type: WEN event
Date: Wednesday Nov 6, 2024, 12:00 am
The Women in Economics Network, part of the Economics Society of Australia, is hosting the 2024 Women in Economics Retreat as an in-person event, to be held from Wednesday 6 to Friday 8 November at The Hilton, Surfers Paradise, Queensland.
View...Labour Market Outcomes of Graduates in Economics in Australia - ONLINE ONLY
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Nov 6, 2024, 12:00 pm
The discipline of economics encompasses broad skill-sets with diverse applications in employment markets and industries. Studies of labour market prospects for economics graduates are relatively dated particularly in the light of developments such as declining interest in economics in high school and university. Join the discussion with our guest speaker, Professor Ian Li, Curtin University.
View...2024 Griffin Economic History Public Lecture - The Industrial Revolution and the Industrial Enlightenment
Event Type: Wide/Public Interest
Date: Wednesday Nov 6, 2024, 5:30 pm
2024 Griffin Economic History Public Lecture - The Industrial Revolution and the Industrial Enlightenment
Europe in the eighteenth century witnessed the two great transformations: the Industrial Revolution, which triggered modern economic growth, and the Enlightenment, which created modern liberal democracies and a commitment to human rights. Were the two related? Professor Joel Mokyr will argue that there were many links between the two and that without the Enlightenment sustained economic growth in the West may have fizzled out. Instead, the two transformations amplified and reinforced one another.
View...LinkedUP!
Date: Thursday Nov 14, 2024, 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...Annual PhD Conference in Economics and Business
Event Type: Partner Event
Date: Monday Nov 18, 2024, 12:00 am
Call for Discussants : To participate in the 38th Annual PhD Conference in Economics and Business, hosted by the ANU Research School of Economics this year from 18 to 20 November 2024.
View...2024 Freebairn Public Lecture - Central Bank Reviews: An International Comparison
Event Type: Wide/Public Interest
Date: Thursday Nov 21, 2024, 5:00 pm
2024 Freebairn Public Lecture - Central Bank Reviews: An International Comparison
Why are central banks reviewed? Independence requires accountability which requires evaluation. From the Svennson Review of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in 2001 to the Bernanke Review of the Bank of England in 2024, most central banks in developed countries have been reviewed, but the formats and frameworks differ. This lecture will discuss significant evaluations of central banks internationally.
View...Call for Papers: 32nd Colloquium on Pensions and Retirement research
Date: Wednesday Nov 27, 2024, 8:30 am
The Call for Papers is now open for the 32nd Colloquium on Pensions and Retirement research. Call for Papers deadline: 19 August.
The 32nd Colloquium on Pensions and Retirement Research will be held at UNSW Sydney in Australia on 27-28 November 2024. The Colloquium will include an online session sponsored by the International Pension Research Association (IPRA) on 3 December 2024.
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.