Australian Conference of Economists 2023

The Australian Conference of Economists (ACE) 2023 will be held from the 9 - 12 July 2023 in Brisbane, Queensland. 

Our aim is 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.

WEN Victoria - Get involved

The Victorian WEN committee is seeking interested members to join the 2023 Committee as general committee.

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

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.

Is education or immigration the answer to our skills shortage? We asked 50 economists

Poll 56

Investing in Australians’ education is far more important than immigration in resolving the nation’s skills shortages, according to leading economists surveyed in the lead-up to this week’s jobs and skills summit.

The 50 top Australian economists polled by the Economic Society of Australia and The Conversation are recognised by their peers as leaders in their fields, including economic modelling, labour markets and public policy.

Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND

Awards 2022

A number of prestigious awards were bestowed upon worthy economists at a recent Zoom ceremony.  Read on to find out who won the 2022 ESA National Awards.

WEN Credible Blog Series Writing Competition - Winners Announcement

In 2022, NSW WEN hosted its inaugural writing competition as part of the Credible Economist series.

'It’s important not to overreact’: Australia’s top economists on how to fix high inflation

Poll 55

Australia’s top economists are divided about how to tackle ballooning inflation of 6.1% that’s forecast to climb to a three-decade high of 7.75% by the end of the year.

Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND

ACE 2022

Australian Conference of Economists (ACE) 2022 was held from 10 to 13 July 2022 in Hobart, Tasmania as an in-person event.  Our theme, Economics in the New Normal, sought to address the challenges that a post-pandemic world faces.

Follow us on Twitter

We are delighted to announce the launch of ESA's Twitter account.  Keep up to date with economics-related topics and be part of the conversation.

Fitness & the future of work: time to swap out the marathon for F45 - A conversation with Karen Chester

Jobs matter – they are not only a source of income, but also a source of self-esteem, social interaction, purpose and even community. The concept of work, however, is rapidly changing with the advent of the digital economy and a rapidly aging population. So what can Australians do to improve their job prospects and security?

In this podcast Karen Chester discusses recent trends in Australia’s labour market and the fundamental fractures in Australia’s education and training system that could be leaving us unprepared for our current and future labour markets

Technology & Competition laws: A conversation with Dr Stephen King

"If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold."
twitter.com/andlewis/status/24380177712 

There is little doubt that consumers have benefited from zero price services from the likes of Facebook, Google and even Visa and Mastercard. But is there such a thing as a free emoji? In this podcast Dr. Stephen King explains the two-sided nature of the markets in which these companies compete. He also discusses how economists have grappled with the complexity of these markets in problems ranging from the misuse of market power to ownership of personalised data.

Will robots take our jobs? A conversation with Professor Jeff Borland

The robots are coming. The world of human work is fast disappearing. This is the future according to the doomsayers who seem at present to dominate discussion on the effects of computers in Australia. It’s a catchy story, and perhaps it fits with what we feel is happening around us. But it has rather a big problem. There is not much (or any) evidence to support it.

In the first of a new series of podcasts for members we ask Professor Jeff Borland: Will robots take our jobs?

Keynote address by Professor Wendy Carlin to the Australian Conference of Economists

Keynote address by Professor Wendy Carlin to the Australian Conference of Economists, Melbourne 2019

This is a special edition of the regular ESA podcast, featuring a recording of the keynote speech from the Australian Conference of Economists in Melbourne on 16 July 2019. Professor Wendy Carlin from University College London spoke on the Future of Economics & Economics Education - Insights from Machine Learning.

Keynote address by Professor Sir Tim Besley to the Australian Conference of Economists

Keynote address by Professor Sir Tim Besley to the Australian Conference of Economists, Melbourne 2019

This is a special edition of the regular ESA podcast, featuring a recording of the keynote speech from the Australian Conference of Economists in Melbourne on 15 July 2019. Professor Sir Tim Besley spoke on Why policy economists should study the dynamics of culture.

Career advice for young women from University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne has launched a campaign that's designed to highlight the women in their Faculty and provides career advice to young women.

Follow this link to view the youtube video, which features some of their top female academics (including economist Guyonne Kalb and Abigail Payne).

Short Supply - ESSA's Annual Student Publication

Short Supply is an annual publication of the Economics Student Society of Australia. Launched in 2015 by ESSA’s Monash University branch, it has served as an outlet for student writers and academics to share thoughts and insights on a particular theme. This year's publication, which was launched in mid-August, focuses on the theme of "disasters". Previous editions of the publication are also available on the ESSA website.

Infrastructure Victoria Policy Paper - Good Move: Fixing Transport Congestion

On Wednesday 25 March 2020, Infrastructure Victoria released its latest policy paper on transport network pricing -- Good Move: Fixing Transport Congestion. You can view Infrastructure Victoria's presentation on the paper here.  The Victorian Branch is working with Infrastructure Victoria to bring Economic Society members a webinar or podcast on this research in coming weeks. Stay tuned for more details.

Victorian Branch Postpones Public Events Until Further Notice Due to COVID-19

Given the exceptional circumstances surrounding COVID-19, the Victorian Branch of the Economic Society of Australia will be postponing public events until further notice. This includes the Women in Economics Network and the ESA Young Professionals. This is the most sensible course of action to keep our presenters, members, attendees and other members of the community safe. We will closely monitor developments and bring back our events when it is safe to do so.