22 September 2011

Leading UQ economist Professor Flavio Menezes will join a group of distinguished experts to discuss competition in Australia at the Australian Economic Forum (AEF11) tomorrow in Sydney.

Professor Menezes, the Head of UQ’s School of Economics, will speak alongside Rod Sims, Chairman of The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC); Peter Burn, Director, Public Policy Australian Industry Group; and Robert Smith, Manager - Demand Management Policy & Strategy, AUSGRID.

Professor Menezes will speak on “Australia: The Land of Duopoly”. Among the key points, he will cover the importance of getting regulation right in order not to hinder competition and that competition is as much about the number of competitors as about the intensity with which they compete.

AEF11 is the platform for distinguished economists, business professionals, academics and public servants from all levels of Government to come together and discuss current and future economic issues across a number of COAG policy streams.

The theme of the 2011 Forum is The Big Challenges for Economics. Program highlights include keynote speeches and concurrent sessions on workforce, transport, crime and corruption, resource economics and utilities, the National Broadband Network, marginalised communities, environmental economics, and the economics of disaster and risk management.

Media contact: Head of School of Economics Professor Flavio Menezes. Phone 3365 6242 or f.menezes@uq.edu.au