On Wednesday 29 April the Economic Society is hosting a public forum on the federal government's $42B fiscal stimulus. The event will be addressed by two well-known and well respected macroeconomic analysts; Dr John Edwards, of HSBC; and Professor Tony Makin, of Griffith Business School. Questions and comments from the floor will follow.
John Edwards has been chief economist for HSBC in Australia since early 1997.He holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Washington University and is the author of three books, including Keating, a best selling biography of the former prime minister, and Curtin's Gift, a reinterpretation of the wartime prime minister. Mr Edwards spent most of his earlycareer as an economic and political reporter in Sydney, Canberra and Washington. Between 1991 and 1994 he was Senior Adviser (Economic) to Treasurer, and then Prime Minister Paul Keating. After leaving the Prime Minister's office in 1994 he worked first as an adviser at Macquarie Bank and then as chief economist for Societe Generale.
Tony Makin is Professor of Economics at Griffith University. He has published prolifically in books and journals on the Asia Pacific economies, international finance amnd macroeconomic policy. He has vigrously entered the currrent debate of the $42B fiscal policy in op-eds in the national press.