ABSTRACT
This chapter surveys outpouring of economic thought during the war and immediate post-war years, and tends to dwell more on Australian economists than their New Zealand counterparts simply because there is more literature extant upon the former. In New Zealand, the RBNZ and Treasury hired economists such as William Sutch, who served as a ministerial advisor to Nash. Australia, in contrast, had a team of hitherto university economists in the Finance and Economic Committee offering advice on war finance and related matters. The chapter addresses economic practice and policy, since both countries continued to pioneer economic experiments such as the commitment to full employment in the post-war era, led mostly by Australian economists. Two New Zealand economists, Colin Simkin and Conrad Blyth, undertook active wartime service with the former, upon peacetime, making a significant contribution outlining a new sustainable economic path for his country. Overall, though, Australian economists were far more involved in war administration than their New Zealand counterparts.
