Commodity price volatility has far reaching economic implications for countries such as Australia. What is the impact of price volatility on exporting and importing economies and how does it depend on economic institutions and macroeconomic policy settings? The answers to these questions are often based on recent events, but commodity price shocks have been a fact of life for centuries. In this lecture Jeff Williamson assesses the implications of price volatility for individual countries and the global economy since the industrial revolution.

Jeff Williamson is Laird Bell Emeritus Professor of Economics at Harvard University and Honorary Fellow in Economics at the University of Wisconsin. He is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research and past-President of the Economic History Association. His research includes the impact of international migration, capital flows and trade on factor price convergence and the economic and demographic causes of changing income distribution. It is firmly embedded in both economic and historical analysis and spans the Americas, Europe and Asia.

This lecture is presented by the Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis at the Crawford School of Public Policy and the Centre for Economic History at the Research School of Economics at The Australian National University, and is part of the conference Commodity Price Volatility, Past and Present
The public lecture is followed by light refreshments.

Video: The Gruen Lecture in Honour of Fred Gruen