ABSTRACT
I am honoured to be asked to deliver the 1982 G.L. Wood Memorial Lecture. I went to Wood’s 1950 Economic Geography I lectures and his 1951 Public Finance lectures (which were given at eight o’clock in the morning) and, as a fourth-year student in 1953, I was at the funeral service where the Rev. Irving Benson spoke eloquently about his old friend. I remember Wood illuminating the difficulties of developing the north of Australia, despite the economic incentives of beer, by describing a pub in the north which was completely hidden from sight by the pile of crates of empties which surrounded it. I also went to the first G.L. Wood Memorial Lecture, at which I had my first glimpse of Peter Karmel, who gave the lecture. Perhaps these slight but relevant events justify asking me to talk. In any event, I hope I may honour the memory of a man who played such a significant role in the development of the Melbourne Commerce School.
