SAUL ESLAKE

Economist

SAUL ESLAKE

‘Welcome to my website …
I’m an independent economist, speaker, company director
and Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Tasmania’

About Me


Saul Eslake is one of Australia’s best-known economists. He’s been following, analyzing and offering commentary and advice on the Australian and other economies for more than 40 years.

Since 2015 Saul has been running his own independent economics advisory and consultancy service, Corinna Economic Advisory, from Hobart, Tasmania. Saul does keynote addresses at public and private conferences; participates in panel discussions; presents to boards, investment and asset allocation committees; undertakes customized analyses and reports for corporate, investor, not-for-profit and government clients; has given testimony to Parliamentary Committees; and appears frequently on radio and TV and in the print media in Australia and other countries.

His clients  include Australian and overseas institutional and private equity investors; large and small corporates; government agencies; industry and professional organizations; ‘think tanks’; social and environmental organizations; housing associations; and (occasionally) even political parties.

Saul’s economic analysis and economic reports have covered broad macro-economic themes including economic and employment growth, inflation, international trade, commodity prices, bond and currency markets, labour markets, productivity, climate change, household and corporate debt, public finance, fiscal and monetary policy, inter-government financial relations, taxation, climate change, and regulatory issues. He has also undertaken and published research on specific industries or themes including housing, tourism, agriculture, energy, infrastructure investment, metals and minerals, poverty alleviation, income distribution and inequality, taxation reform, shipping and transport, the future of work, and regional development.

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In 2021 Corinna Economic Advisory joined with a similar London-based economics consultancy, Llewellyn Consulting, to form Independent Economics, to offer similar services to clients around the world.

Saul has been the Australian representative on the International Conference of Commercial Bank Economists (ICCBE) since 2003, and chaired its Steering Committee between 2018 and 2021.

Saul is also a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Tasmania; a member of the Australian Parliamentary Budget Office’s panel of expert advisors, and a member of Australian Taxation Office’s ‘Tax Gap’ expert advisory panel.

Saul began his career as an economist working for the Australian Treasury, in its Fiscal and Monetary Policy sections, in Canberra, which provided him with a very solid grounding in how macro-economic policies are formulated and implemented. He then worked for the Advisory Council for Inter-Government Relations (specializing in federal-state financial relations and in housing policy) and for the Opposition (Minority) Leader in the Parliament of the State of Victoria, before landing his first position in Australia’s financial markets. Saul then worked in the markets for 25 years, including as Chief Economist at McIntosh Securities (when it was one of Australia’s leading stockbroking firms) in the second half of the 1980s; Chief Economist (International) for the investment management division of National Mutual Life Association (then Australia’s second largest life insurance company) in the first half of the 1990s; Chief Economist at the Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (one of Australia’s four large commercial banks) between 1995 and 2009; and Chief Economist (Australia and New Zealand) for Bank of America Merrill Lynch (one of the world’s largest investment banks) between 2011 and 2015.

He has also previously been a member of the Australian Government’s Foreign Affairs and Trade Policy Advisory Councils; its Tourism Forecasting Committee and Long-Term Tourism Strategy Steering Committee; and its National Housing Supply Council. He’s also previously been Chair of the Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board, which advised on the distribution of grants to arts companies and individual artists. He’s also been a non-executive director of the Gas & Fuel Corporation of Victoria; the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute; Hydro Tasmania; the Housing Choices Australia; the Macquarie Point Development Corporation.

Saul has a first class honours degree in Economics from the University of Tasmania; and a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia (now known as FinSIA). He has completed the Senior Executive Program at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business; and (with Merit) the Company Directors’ Course of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He also holds a Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) degree from the University of Tasmania.

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SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT

Speaking Engagement | Boardroom Advisory | Commissioned Report | Expert Witness



Saul Eslake online presentation


“You are the best economic thinker in the country hands down”

Sheryle Bagwell, recently retired Senior Business Correspondent (and sometime Executive Producer),
ABC Radio National Breakfast


“Just want to congratulate you Saul on the unbelievably good set of slides you just presented, possibly the best I have ever seen. You have set the bar very high.”

Dr Joe Flood, Adjunct Fellow, RMIT University, Pandemicia


“Thank you very much for your excellent presentation for the Economic Society today. It is always a great pleasure to hear your eloquent, up-to-date and comprehensive talks.”

Andrew Trembath, economist, Victorian and Australian Government agencies


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WHAT'S NEW

Most Recent Articles, Talks and Presentations


The implications of Australia’s higher-than-expected March quarter inflation numbers
News, The Australian Economy
25th April 2024


‘A distinctive part of life in Australia’ The Declining Dream of Homeownership
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Housing
17th April 2024


Could China have a currency crisis at some point in the next 2-5 years?
Asian Economies, The Global Economy, Topics
16th April 2024


“The Great Housing Disaster – Who’s to Blame?”
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Housing, Recent Media Interview, Topics
15th April 2024


The Economic Consequences of Surges in Immigration
Australian Society and Politics, The Australian Economy, The Global Economy, Topics
10th April 2024


Is China heading for some kind of currency or financial crisis?
Asian Economies, The Global Economy
4th April 2024


The next four years will be difficult for Tasmania
News, Tasmania
27th March 2024


Some initial reflections on the outcome of the 2024 Tasmanian State election
Australian Society and Politics, Tasmania
24th March 2024


Tasmania’s fiscal position
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Recent Media Interview, Tasmania
24th March 2024


Productivity, Tax Reform and ‘Peak China’
Asian Economies, Economic Policies, Productivity, Taxation, The Australian Economy
13th March 2024


Tasmania – lost opportunities
Tasmania
12th March 2024


The Tasmanian Economy
Tasmania
29th February 2024


The worst public policy decision of the 21st Century
Economic Policies, Recent Media Interview
20th February 2024


Is ‘price gouging’ a major contributor to inflation?
Recent Media Interview
19th February 2024


The massive $50bn GST revenue distribution blow out (with Andy Park)
Economic Policies, Recent Media Interview
14th February 2024


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Recent Presentations


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TESTIMONIALS

What Others Say


“You are one of the best at what you do in the world”
Gail Fosler, Chief Economist, The Conference Board, New York, December 2002

“I have never known an economist to have such a knowledge of world economic facts and to be able to bring to bear so much information in answering a question without notice”
Charles Goode, Chairman, ANZ Bank, July 2009

“Saul Eslake is … a highly regarded independent economist with the highest degree of integrity"
John Durie, Columnist, The Australian, July 2009

“… one of the few people in this world who can have so many oranges up in the air at the same time but still manage to catch them"
Andrew Clark, journalist, Australian Financial Review, November 2008

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