HG Brennan Lecture in Economics & Theology

Join us for the annual HG Brennan Lecture in Economics & Theology. This year Commissioner of the Productivity Commission, Catherine de Fontenay, will be speaking on 'Economics and Selfishness'

There are great limitations to economists modelling individuals as selfish and focused only on the material world. Geoff Brennan’s work explored many of these limitations, to our great benefit. But even in the most conventional economic models, predicating self-interested and amoral agents, there is one individual in the model whose behaviour is unselfish: the social planner. One can argue that economists identify with the social planner rather than the individual agents in the model. (As such, our besetting sin is arrogance rather than selfishness.) The lecture reviews some of the luminaries of economic thought, to highlight their focus on the
welfare of all. And it reviews the landscape of academic and other economists and their work, to conclude with some discussion of the Productivity Commission’s work, particularly its work on mobility and poverty.

Event details

• Date: Commencing Feb 6, 2025 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
• Location: 15 Blackall Street, Barton, ACT
• Address: Chambers Pavilion
• Event flyer: Download flyer
• Cost: Free
• Registration: Please register at https://events.humanitix.com/hg-brennan-lecture-in-economics-and-theology-economics-and-selfishness
• Stay in touch: Facebook