ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how Australian and New Zealand economists responded to the Great Depression with innovative policy solutions. At the time, economists in Australia were rare birds and none were to be found in the civil service or economic agencies. While both countries were primary producing exporters, both recorded different phases entering and exiting the Depression. The Depression hit Australia in 1929, although there had been some forebodings with export prices faltering in 1927. For its part, New Zealand, despite the relative simplicity of its economic structure, could neither display nor marshal similar intellectual firepower until an extra Parliamentary Economics Committee was formed in 1932. Overall, the public reputation of Australasian economists was established and made secure by their response to the Depression. Economists had arrived on the scene. Moreover, the work on economic rehabilitation in Australia and New Zealand, extending over three years, was successful and was acclaimed as an important contribution to economic theory and practice.
