On Wednesday 20 May, our Year 12 HSC and IB Economics students attended the UBS Economics Day at the Wesley Conference Centre in Sydney CBD. The event brought together economists, industry leaders and educators to explore some of the most significant economic issues shaping Australia today and provided students with the opportunity to see classroom theory come to life.<\/p>\n
Across the day, students heard from leading economists and policy specialists who unpacked topics highly relevant to both their courses and everyday life. George Tharenou, Chief Economist at UBS Australia & New Zealand, explored the role of fiscal policy in responding to economic challenges, while Millie Muroi, an economics writer at The Sydney Morning Herald provided students with a timely breakdown of the 2026 Federal Budget, linking policy decisions to issues many of our students regularly discuss in class. The day concluded with Adam Cagliarini, the Reserve Bank of Australia\u2019s Senior Policy Advisor, who unpacked how monetary policy attempts to balance inflation control with economic growth and employment outcomes.<\/p>\n
While discussing Australia\u2019s economic outlook, students were reminded that not every dip is a cause for concern. Sometimes, much like the J-Curve, things must get worse before they get better. Fortunately, unlike the exchange rate J-Curve effect, our students\u2019 enthusiasm showed no initial deterioration and experienced sustained long-run appreciation throughout the day.<\/p>\n
For students, the conference reinforced that economics extends far beyond diagrams and definitions. Discussions around inflation, housing supply constraints and government intervention highlighted the complexity of managing competing economic objectives and reminded students that there are rarely simple solutions to contemporary economic issues.<\/p>\n
Attending the UBS HSC Economics Day was a valuable experience for our students and is best summarised by two of MLC School\u2019s economists: \nStudying Economics has completely changed the way I see the world. I enjoy analysing how governments, businesses, and individuals make decisions and how those choices influence economic growth, inflation, employment, and living standards. What interests me most about Economics is that it combines logical thinking with real-world issues that affect everyone\u2019s daily lives. Attending the UBS Economics Day made the subject feel even more relevant, as it connected classroom concepts to current economic conditions and provided insight into how economists and financial professionals interpret trends, data, and global events.<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 Miranda Hudson<\/strong> (Year 12 HSC)<\/p>\n
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\n<\/u>I\u2019ve always been interested in the incentives behind why people, businesses, and governments make the choices they do, leading me to choose IB Economics. While we often explore theoretical scenarios through conceptual graphs and terminology, the UBS Economics Day grounded these concepts by focusing on Australia\u2019s fiscal and monetary policies in achieving macroeconomic objectives. Seeing current statistical data, especially in the housing market and the federal budget, offered a completely different perspective and a deeper understanding of our syllabus theory. Hearing experts analyse these specific fields, combined with the insightful Q&A, enhanced my real-world understanding and interest in economics.<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 Kimberly Chou<\/strong> (Year 12 IB)<\/p>\n