Leading economic academics from Griffith Business School are taking part in the 2015 Australian Conference of Economists in Brisbane this week.
Academic, public policy and private sector economists from across the country have assembled to assess the economic challenges facing the world today, ranging from the turbulence of the Greek crisis to Higher Education de-regulation and Competition Policy Review closer to home.
Among the researchers from Griffith’s Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics presenting at the four-day event are Dr Chris Fleming, Dr Alex Robson, Professor Paul Simshauser and Head of Department, Professor Fabrizio Carmignani.
“This is an important opportunity to share insights and findings from our projects with researchers working in similar fields,” Professor Carmignani said.
“It is very useful, sometimes crucial, for the modern economist to keep pace with the latest knowledge in a global economic environment which is subject to change by the minute.”
Griffith University has teamed up with University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology to co-host the 2015 conference with the Economics Society of Australia (Qld Branch).
On the first day, Griffith’s Dr Chris Fleming (left) and Dr Alex Robson presented a professional development seminar on Cost Benefit Analysis. Dr Robson was also a panellist at Wednesday’s session on the government’s tax policy discussion paper.
Also on Tuesday, Professor Carmignani was a panellist in a session on the job market titled ‘A day in the life of an economist’. He shared the stage with Peter Tulip from the Reserve Bank of Australia and Gene Tunny of Adept Economics.
On Friday, Professor Carmignani will chair a policy roundtable discussion on whether Australia has a public debt problem and what lessons can be learned from the US and Europe.
At the same time, Paul Simshauser will be a panellist in a separate seminar assessing energy policy in Australia.
Several Griffith Business School academic staff and HDR candidates are also presenting their work in parallel academic sessions running over the four days of the conference.
World-respected economists address the conference each day, including Ariel Rubinstein who devised the ‘Rubinstein bargaining model’ in 1982. Professor Rubinstein delivered Wednesday’s keynote speech.
Paul J Ferraro, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at John Hopkins University, will open Thursday’s session. He is a senior science fellow with the World Wildlife Fund and his research focuses on the design of environmental programs.
Paul Klemperer, Edgeworth Professor of Economics at Oxford University, will deliver the keynote address on Friday morning. Professor Klemperer invented an auction to help the Bank of England as the financial crisis took hold in 2007.