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Bob Hawke, Colin Barnett and ‘Nugget' Coombs, the first Governor of Australia's Reserve Bank, are a few of the many UWA Economics graduates who have gone on to make their mark on our society.

Economics has been taught at UWA almost since the University's inception 100 years ago, when it was part of the Faculty of Arts. Economics became a Faculty in its own right in 1954 and the Economics Honours degree began producing a steady stream of outstanding graduates.

With the introduction of the New Courses, the Business School is keen to continue to encourage their students to study Honours.

Ken Clements, Winthrop Professor of Economics and BHP Billiton Research Fellow in the Business School, has started promoting Honours in Economics to highlight a course that he says ‘enjoys considerable prestige and is highly valued by the community and the University.'

In a new book from the School, UWA Economics Honours by Kenneth W Clements, it is described as a flagship program of the Business School, with a history spanning more than half a century.

"We thought it would be beneficial to invest in the enhancement of Economics Honours under the new course structure to ensure the program remains buoyant and attractive to some of the best students in the University," Professor Clements wrote.

He invited Economics Honours graduates to contribute to the book and 22 glowing responses have been published, reflecting the writers' experiences at UWA and how the course helped them in their subsequent careers.

Some of the graduates refer to their perception of the broader benefits of choosing to study economics: the power of the economic way of thinking, the insights it provides into national and global events and its sheer intellectual content.

Tracey Horton, past Dean of the Business School, wrote that economics and business was about so much more than making money. "Business acts as a catalyst to bring together all disciplines and to ensure cooperation across nations," she wrote. "I am proud of the fact that, in some small way, I have used my economics knowledge to make a positive difference in the world."

Economics Honours graduates are widely dispersed over the public and private sector, including the Reserve Bank of Australia, Federal and State treasuries, economic and management consultancies, investment banking and stock broking.

The book is available from the Economics department of the Business School.

Read UWA Economics Honours online.

Published in UWA News , 30 April 2012.

Media references

Ken Clements (UWA Business School)    +618 6488 2898
Verity Chia (UWA Business School)     +618 6488 1346