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%.

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.

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/

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.

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

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.

Located in the Botanic Garden in Uppsala, the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (scas) is a
national institute for advanced study. For the academic year 2024-25 the Collegium offers residential
fellowships for senior and early-career scholars from all countries. The Collegium is also offers short-term research stays (approximately two weeks to two months) to scholars from all countries.

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

Applications for the 2023 Mannkal Student Scholarship Program are now open.

Participation in a one year Mannkal Scholarship Program includes 10-12 local seminars and events, entrepreneurship training, employability skills development, conference opportunities and an invitation to apply for internships both domestically and abroad. Mannkal covers the full cost of these opportunities.

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.

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.

Hosted by the Victoria branch of ESA, ACE2019 was held from 14-16 July at the Pullman Melbourne on the Park. Presentations will be posted progressively.

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.

The following people were recognised in the Australia Day Honours 2020.  Congratulations to Michael John Rice, Professor Hal Christopher Hill, Professor John Reginald Piggott and Professor Marjorie Lucy Moodie - keep reading to see their contributions.

The Australian Conference of Economists (ACE) 2021 was held from 12 to 14 July 2021 as a fully virtual event.

ACE 2021 celebrated over 100 years of welfare economics and brought together like-minded individuals to explore concepts of allocation, utilisation and distribution of our resources as they relate to the wealth and wellbeing of individuals and our society.

Where permission has been granted, we have uploaded presenations. 

The WA Department of Treasury has kindly advised that it has released a discussion paper on international trade that is of some importance to the Western Australian economy.  The paper reviews the gains from trade and considers recent developments in global trade.  In particular, the paper considers the implications for Western Australia of the current US-China trade dispute.

The Economic Society of Australia’s WA Branch has established a new podcast series ‘Economics Supplied on Demand’.

Episode 3 in our podcast series - Economics Supplied on Demand -  is about the importance of studying economics.  Click here to listen.