The unit uses the basic tools of economics to examine Australian economic experience in the period from early settlement to the Second World War. Particular topics may include the major influences on economic development; standards of living and income distribution; the impact of white settlement on the aboriginal population and the environment; Australia’s place in the international system of trade, capital flows and migration; the nature and significance of the economic depressions of the 1890s and the 1930s; and the policy problems and actions of governments. Although the course concentrates on economic questions, social and political circumstances will also be taken into account where these are important for understanding the questions at issue.

By examination, essay and tutorial participation.

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