In memory of Edward Shann, we celebrate the 60th Shann Memorial Lecture, one of Australia's longest-running public lectures on economic policy.
The Shann Memorial Lecture honours the memory of the Foundation Chair of Economics and History at UWA, Edward Shann.? A collaboration between the UWA Economics Department and the Economic Society of Australia (WA Branch), it has been running continuously since the 1960's.? The lecture features an esteemed guest speaker, as well as an opportunity following the lecture for questions and discussion.
About the speaker
For our 60th lecture we are joined by guest speaker, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock, for her lecture: Technology, Trust, and the Future of Central Banking in Australia.?Michele commenced as Governor on 18 September 2023, and is Chair of the RBA Governance, Monetary Policy and Payments System Boards and Council of Financial Regulators. She served on the Reserve Bank Board as Deputy Chair from 2 April 2022 and Chair from 18 September 2023 until 28 February 2025.
Prior to her current role, Ms Bullock was the RBA Deputy Governor. She has also held a variety of senior management positions at the RBA, including Assistant Governor (Financial System), Assistant Governor (Business Services), Assistant Governor (Currency), Adviser for the Currency Group and, before that, Head of Payments Policy Department.
Ms Bullock is a Member of Chief Executive Women and a signatory to the Banking and Finance Oath.
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About Edward Shann
?Edward Shann (b 1884) was one of Australia's leading pre-war economists making significant intellectual contributions to economics and economic policy, championing free-market thought in public forums and mentoring a new generation of economists.?
A graduate of Melbourne University and LSE, he was UWA's Foundation Professor of History and Economics in 1931, inaugural Professor of Economics from 1931 and Vice-Chancellor from 1921 to 1923. Shann is credited with building an economics discipline on the UWA campus, advocating for free markets and flexible prices, small government, fiscal prudence and flexible exchange rates.
Shann foresaw the Great Depression, describing the looming conditions in his paper 'The Boom of 1890—and Now' (April 1927). He coined the phrase 'it's a fine country to starve in,' a metaphor for the government's optimism that they could increase debt without regard for increasing productivity. He then played a key role in Australia's recovery from the Great Depression, advocating for devaluation and monetary policy.
Shann's students included many post-war nation builders, most notably -? H.C Coombs, who was the first Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, and Arthur Tange, who is credited with the creation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade - the modern structure of Australia's civilian and uniform defence services. Shann died tragically in 1935. The sundial in UWA's Sunken Gardens is dedicated to the memory of Edward Shann.?
