Inflation, productivity and wages: what is the link? - ONLINE ONLY

The Reserve Bank of Australia has made a number of statements about productivity in discussing monetary policy decisions. But is the relationship between inflation and productivity well understood? Why does the RBA need to consider productivity as well as wages when deciding whether to raise interest rates? In a longer term perspective, what is the link between real wages and productivity, and do economists think that relationship is as strong as it was? And if productivity plays such an important role, what can be done in the short and medium term to raise productivity?

Join the Economic Society of Australia as we discuss this topic with Luci Ellis (Chief Economist, Westpac Group), Danielle Wood (newly-appointed Chair of the Productivity Commission), and Professor Ian Harper (recently retired from his role as Dean of Melbourne Business School, and member of the RBA Board). 

About the Speakers

Luci Ellis, Chief Economist, Westpac Group is one of Australia’s most respected economists and was until recently the Assistant Governor (Economic) at the Reserve Bank of Australia, a role she has held since 2016.  Prior to her that, she was Head of the RBA’s Financial Stability Department for eight years. She has also served as a Deputy Head of the Economic Analysis Department and spent almost two years on secondment at the Bank for International Settlements.  Dr Ellis holds a PhD from the University of New South Wales, a Masters degree in Economics from the Australian National University and a first-class Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from the University of Melbourne.

Danielle Wood is the newly-appointed Chair of the Productivity Commission, the federal government’s independent policy advisory body. Previously Dani was the CEO of the Grattan Institute, a leading think-tank, where she led the Budgets and Government Program and published extensively on economic reform priorities, budgets, tax reform, women’s workforce participation, generational inequality and reforming political institutions. She is a sought-after media commentator and speaker on policy issues.  Danielle was previously Principal Economist and Director of Merger investigations at the ACCC, a Senior Economist at NERA Economic Consulting and Senior Research Economist the Productivity Commission. She holds an Honours degree in Economics from the University of Adelaide and two Masters degrees, one in Economics and one in Competition Law, from the University of Melbourne.

Professor Ian Harper AO is a member of the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia. Ian has recently retired from his role as Dean of Melbourne Business School and Co-Dean of the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Business and Economics. Ian is a professional economist best known for his work in public policy. During his 40-year career, he has worked with governments, banks, corporates and leading professional services firms at the highest level.  From March 2011 to March 2018 Ian was a partner at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and then a Senior Advisor to Deloitte Access Economics. He chaired the Australian Government’s Competition Policy Review, a “root and branch” review of Australia’s competition policy, laws and regulators, from March 2014 to March 2015.

This session will be chaired by ESA National President, Catherine de Fontenay.

Details

When: Wednesday 29 November 2023
Time: From 5.30pm to 6.30pm AEDT (SYD/CBR/MEL)
Where: Online via Zoom  (link will be in your auto generated confirmation)
Cost: Free of charge for members (login prior) or $10 for non-members (click here to join your local branch)

Registration and Joining this Webinar

To register please book online below. Members will be required to login before registering.

The link to join this webinar will be included in your auto-generated invoice email - please look out for this and keep it safe until the webinar is due to be broadcast. Note, these emails sometimes get caught in spam folders. The timing of this event is AEDT.