Latest News
ACE 2024
The next Australian Conference of Economists will be held in Adelaide, SA. Please hold the date: 10th - 12th July, 2024. Details to follow.
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.
STEM professionals in schools
The ESA Central Council and the heads of Economics departments at various Australian universities have had a number of discussions about declining enrolments in Economics and the lack of diversity in enrolments. There are low enrolments of women, but there are also low enrolments of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This is largely due to the decline in the number of high schools that offer Economics as a subject. High schools in disadvantaged areas are particularly unlikely to offer Economics.
We can and should keep unemployment below 4%, says our survey of top economists
Poll 60
Australia’s leading economists believe Australia can sustain an unemployment rate as low as 3.75% – much lower than the latest Reserve Bank estimate of 4.25% and the Treasury’s latest estimate of 4.5%.
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.
Awards 2023
A number of prestigious awards were bestowed upon worthy economists at ACE2023, held in Brisbane. Read on to find out who won the 2023 ESA National Awards.
ACE 2023
The Australian Conference of Economists (ACE) 2023 was held from the 9 - 12 July 2023 in Brisbane, Queensland.
The aim was to organise a conference with interest to all economists, both academic and professional. Only by a balanced approach of practice and theory can we solve the problems our society faces.
Presentations are uploaded where permission has been received.
Budget 2023
Poll 59
Our panellists were asked the following 2023 budget question: "On May 9, the government delivered a budget designed, in the Treasurer's words, to strike a balance between relief, repair and restraint'. 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/
How economists would raise $20 billion per year
Poll 58
When panellests were asked to find an extra A$20 billion per year to fund government priorities like building nuclear submarines and responding to climate change, Australia’s top economists overwhelmingly back land tax, increased resource taxes, an attack on negative gearing and extending the scope of the goods and services tax.
Photo credit by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash
Responses (59)
Modernising Research Assessment in Australia
The Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA) and the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia are seeking the views of researchers in Australia on how assessment practices in universities, governments and the private sector shape research careers and how they influence researchers’ choices and priorities.
Eminent Speaker Series 2023
The Central Council Executive is delighted to see the return of the Eminent Speaker Series. Professor Joshua Gans of University of Toronto will visit three locations as part of this program. If you missed seeing Professor Gans in person, you can follow the links here to catch up on his presentation.
Call for Papers - IEA Congress
The call for papers for contributed sessions closes on Feb 28. Papers can be submitted here.
Leading economists back Federal Government action to curb rising gas and electricity prices
Poll 57
Australia’s top economists have overwhelmingly endorsed intervention to restrain gas and electricity prices, with only three of the 47 leading economists surveyed believing the best thing the government can do is to leave things to the market.
Photo credit: Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND
Responses (47)
Unreserved - RBA's latest release of digitised archival records
The Reserve Bank has been releasing a large volume of digitised archival records to the public through our digital archive (called Unreserved). These records span nearly 200 years of Australia’s economic, financial and social history. The latest release includes records about the work and influence of Dr HC Coombs along with additional records from the Bank’s Research Department, with much of the new information covering the period from the Bank’s ‘separation’ from the original Commonwealth Bank in 1960 through to the early 1970s.
WEN Credible Blog Series Writing Competition - Winners Announcement
In 2022, NSW WEN hosted its inaugural writing competition as part of the Credible Economist series.
Vale Professor Geoffrey Brennan
It is with great sadness that the Economic Society of Australia acknowledges the passing of Professor Geoffrey Brennan.
Geoffrey Brennan was an outstanding scholar, who did ground-breaking work in economics and philosophy and at their intersection and played a major role in the development of PPE as a global interdisciplinary research program.
Events
Panel Discussion: Gas Price Caps - ONLINE ONLY
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Thursday Oct 5, 2023, 5:30 pm
Gas Price Caps: Are they meeting their short-term goal of reducing gas prices? Are they hindering longer-term goals such as achieving net zero?
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WEN professional development workshop: Communicating economics - ONLINE ONLY
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Monday Oct 9, 2023, 12:00 pm
Do you wish you had more opportunities to share your ideas about economics? Is there research you’ve done, a blog you’re about to write, or just a general observation about the world that could be promoted and shared to a public audience or via social media?
View ...Econometric WORKSHOP 2: CHARTING & TABLES
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Monday Oct 9, 2023, 6:30 pm
This is the second Workshop in the series of three separate Econometric Workshops that have been jointly organised by the WA Young Economists Network (WA YEN), WA Treasury and the Curtin Economics Society (CES) which are free for all Students to attend and will be delivered by Zac Muscat (Economist, WA Dept. of Treasury).
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Competition Economics: Is It Broken?
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Oct 11, 2023, 12:15 pm
In this session, Dr Lilla Csorgo, Chief Economist of the ACCC will present on the topic Competition Economics: Is It Broken?. This lunchtime event will include an interactive Q&A session.
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Navigating Australia's transition away from fossil fuels
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Oct 11, 2023, 5:30 pm
Join us as Cedric Hodges presents CGE modelling of declining demand for Australia’s fossil fuel exports, potential economic impacts and policy responses.
This is an in-person event.
View ...Econometric WORKSHOP 3: CHARTING & TABLES
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Oct 11, 2023, 6:30 pm
This is the third and final Workshop in the series of three separate Econometric Workshops that have been jointly organised by the WA Young Economists Network (WA YEN), WA Treasury and the Curtin Economics Society (CES) which are free for all Students to attend and will be delivered by Zac Muscat (Economist, WA Dept. of Treasury).
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Gender Gaps: Causes and Origins
Date: Thursday Oct 12, 2023, 5:30 pm
Keith Hancock Lecture 2023: Presented by Emeritus Professor Alison Booth
Recent research in experimental and behavioural economics has focused on the role that preferences might play in explaining economic outcomes. These preferences include attitudes to risk and willingness to compete, which can shape gender differences. In the 2023 Keith Hancock Lecture, Emeritus Prof Alison Booth will draw on her recent research that utilises both laboratory experiments and field experiments.
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Intergenerational Report 2023 – Australia’s future to 2063
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Friday Oct 13, 2023, 12:30 pm
Join us for a discussion on the Intergenerational Report, looking forward to Australia's next 40 years.
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Professional Members Networking Event
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Thursday Oct 19, 2023, 5:30 pm
From: Australian Capital Territory
The Economic Society of Australia (ACT) invites all their Professional Members to attend a networking event at the Commonwealth Club.
There will be a guest economist joining us to informally chat with members.
As this is a special function for Professional Members only places are limited so book early.
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WEN Web-Mentoring for ECR women in academia - ONLINE ONLY
Date: Wednesday Oct 25, 2023, 12:00 pm
The WEN web-mentoring for early career researcher (ECR) women in academia is a mentoring initiative aimed at supporting ECR women in academia (i.e. Post-docs, Level B and Level C academics) across Australia. The program consists of four online thematic mentoring sessions throughout 2023-2024. These sessions will cover a range of essential topics, including research, teaching, and service.
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Childcare Choices: What Parents Want
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Oct 25, 2023, 12:15 pm
Joel Bowman will be sharing the insights from the NSW Productivity Commission’s recent report Childcare choices: what parents want.
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Isolation Trivia Night October
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Oct 25, 2023, 6:00 pm
Come and join the Queensland Young Economists for its monthly trivia social! On the last Wednesday of every month, we will be meeting for a night of trivia.
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Briefing: Breast cancer awareness - Economics informed policy
Event Type: Partner Event
Date: Thursday Oct 26, 2023, 12:15 pm
To mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, ABE has organised a panel of leading experts from the fields of economics, business and healthcare to canvas the economics of breast cancer.
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Financial Behaviour, Skills Investments & Evidence-Based Policy Making: Lessons from Academic-Industry Research Partnerships (Hybrid event: in person and via zoom)
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Nov 1, 2023, 12:00 pm
Economists have long been interested in public policy and other real-world impact, but in recent years the advent of more accessible data, the proliferation of applied microeconomic methods for causal influence, and the growth of behavioral economics and “Nudge” units have combined to expand opportunities for “evidence-based” policy-making. While this movement is large and diverse, one frequent mechanism for such policy-making is a partnership between academic researchers and industry, government and/or non-profit leaders.
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ESA Annual Dinner 2023
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Nov 1, 2023, 6:00 pm
From: Australian Capital Territory
The 2023 Annual Economics Dinner
The ESA (ACT) would like to invite you to attend our annual Economics Dinner, to hear from our distinguished guest speaker the Hon Dr Andrew Leigh.
Dr Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, the Assistant Minister for Employment and a former professor of economics at the Australian National University.
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2023 Tasmanian Economic Forum - Advancing prosperity and kicking goals?
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Thursday Nov 2, 2023, 8:30 am
Tasmania's premiere one-day conference featuring leading economists and discussion of current state issues through an economic lens.
Early bird discount of $15 on individual registrations is available until 22 October 2023 - no promo code required.
A limited number of student registrations priced at $40 are available by entering promo code 'STUDENT'.
If you experience any issues purchasing a ticket, please email admin@esatas.org.au
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YEN End Of Year Networking Drinks
Date: Friday Nov 3, 2023, 5:30 pm
Please join us for the Young Economists Network End of Year Drinks. As we look to another big year in the world of economics, this is an opportunity to unwind, and network with like minded colleagues from across academic, public and private sectors.
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WEN ACT: Annual General Meeting 2023
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Thursday Nov 9, 2023, 5:30 pm
From: Australian Capital Territory
WEN (ACT) is pleased to invite you to our Annual General Meeting on Thursday 9 Nov. If you are thinking what is an AGM like, you are welcome to come and see- also as we need members for a quorum. Food and drinks are provided. WEN AGM is 5.30-6.30pm, followed by snacks and ESA AGM starts at 7-8pm.
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.
