#35 March 2012 - Melbourne Institute News

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Melbourne Institute News March 2012 ISSN 1442-9500 (print)

ISSN 1442-9519 (online)

Print Post Approved PP381667/01204

Issue 35

Let the Celebrations Begin

Let the Celebrations Begin Page 1

HILDA Survey Wave 11 Top-Up Response Rate Surpasses Expectations Page 3

Unexpected Victims: German Parents’ Unemployment Reduces Sons’ Life Satisfaction Page 4

Downing Lecture: Little Change in Household Income Distributions Due to GFC Page 5

In Memoriam Page 6

Melbourne Institute Releases Australian Economic Review Page 7

Intergen +10: 10th Anniversary of the Treasury’s Intergenerational Report Page 8

This year the Melbourne Institute celebrates its Golden Jubilee. Ronald Henderson arrived to take up the inaugural directorship of the (then) Institute of Applied Economic Research on 15 December 1962. That year had been one of feverish activity within the University of Melbourne to beat rival claims from Canberra and Sydney to establish what was seen as a national institute of applied economic research. Professor Richard Downing, who had known Henderson since they were students at Cambridge, was the driving force behind the setting up of the Institute in Melbourne. Speed was so important that there was not time to establish a professorship for Ronald Henderson; this had to wait until 1966 when the Institute was up and running. The Institute was established as a separate entity from the faculty, although it was colocated with the department of economics. It reported not to the dean but to an advisory board chaired by the Vice-Chancellor. Ronald Henderson came to an Institute that had limited funding. The faculty and university between them cobbled together funds for the director, support staff and four other positions. But none of the funding was for more than three years. The Reserve Bank had wanted to provide core funding for an Professor Ronald Henderson independent economic research institute but its desires were torpedoed by the Commonwealth Treasury. Given the limited university resources available, it is amazing what was achieved under Ronald Henderson’s leadership in the first decade, although he was quick to tap external sources such as the Myer and Potter

www.melbourneinstitute.com Page 1 - Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research


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