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About EconomicsEconomics provides training in logical thought and analysis which can be applied widely in every-day decision making, not just to matters which are usually labelled "economic". The underlying philosophy of our teaching and research program is that a rapidly changing world requires adaptable analytical skills. Accordingly, its aim is to prepare our students with a wide range of career options that are readily adapted to the issues of the day. These may be positions in industry, government, or in non-government and international organisations. The Department of Economics: A brief historyThe term “Monash Economics” came into widespread usage in the 1970’s. It connoted liveliness and rigour and an emphasis on the policy implication of economics and was a recognition of the meteoric rise of a new grouping of quality economists. Under the direction of its founding Dean, Donald Cochrane, himself a distinguished economist, economics at Monash had undergone a remarkably successful take-off from 1961, the year when the University opened for business. By 1965, there were 23 economists on site including many of the best recent postgraduates in Australia. The Department already had a reputation in Victorian schools for the quality of its teaching. The appointment of a number of professors in the second half of the 1960’s then further enhanced its status by adding to the research capability of the team and led to further diversity of fields of study. The period since the mid 1990’s has been one of adjustment to the implications of the spectacular expansion of Monash through the acquisition of new campuses. In 1993, the Clayton faculty was amalgamated with the Faculty of Business on the Caulfield campus of the University. As a result of this and some prior actions of the University, the department became dispersed over six campuses in Victoria. From this emerged a new undergraduate degree structure with important implications for the department. The immediate effect was to reduce the number of students with a flow-on to reduced staffing. By the turn of the century, student numbers had recovered somewhat but not evenly across the campuses. Nevertheless, the Department has successfully adjusted to the new situation and through a number of new appointments, has effected a generational change, which bodes well for its future. |
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