Shann Memorial Lecture: Australia’s productivity malaise - reflections on the ‘debate’

The Shann Memorial Lecture has been running annually since 1963 and was introduced to honour the memory of the Foundation Chair of Economics and History at UWA, Edward Shann. Edward Shann has been regarded as the pioneer of the academic development of economics and traditional Australian economic history and he was a strong advocate of individual intellectual freedom and developing a sense of social responsibilities. He penned several books and essays on the economic history of Australia and was a major influence in formulating financial and fiscal policies in Australia.

Q&A discussion

Following the lecture, there will be an opportunity for questions and discussion.

About the speaker 

Gary Banks is best known for his 15 years as founding Chairman of the Productivity Commission, serving under both Coalition and Labor Governments. This was followed in 2013 by appointments as Professorial Fellow at the Melbourne Institute and Chief Executive of the Australia New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). In 2017 he was appointed Chair of the Australian Statistics Advisory Council. He chaired the OECD’s Regulatory Policy Committee for several years and until recently was a Non-Executive Director of the Macquarie Group. Earlier in his career, Gary was a senior economist at the GATT/WTO in Geneva. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences Australia and a Senior Fellow with the Centre for Independent Studies. His contributions to public policy have been recognised in the Economic Society’s inaugural ‘Distinguished Public Policy Fellows Award’ and the Order of Australia (2007). 

About Edward Shann

Edward Shann was born in 1884 and graduated with first-class honours in history and political economics from Queens’ College, The University of Melbourne. He won several scholarships and went on for higher studies at The London School of Economics. He returned to Australia from England in 1910 and was lecturer-in-charge of history and economics at The University of Queensland from June 1911 to December 1912. He joined The University of Western Australia in its inaugural year of 1913 as the Foundation Professor of history and economics. He then went on to work at the University for a total of 22 years and was Vice-Chancellor from 1921 to 1923. Edward Shann’s life was cut tragically short when he died at the age of 51, in 1935.