Economics for Today, 8th Edition | AU/NZ

Professor Allan Layton, BEcon. (Hons), MEcon., PhD, received his doctorate from the University of Queensland in 1982. Since then he has held academic posts at La Trobe University, Griffith University, Macquarie University, Columbia University in the USA, the University of Queensland, and the Queensland University of Technology (where he was Head of School of Economics and Public Policy, from 1992 to 1995, and then Head of School of Economics and Finance, from 1995 to 2005). Since 2006 he has been at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) and, in mid-2013, completed a seven-year period as Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law. He continues at USQ as Professor of Economics and his research and teaching interests span international business-cycle analysis, financial and monetary economics, macroeconomic policy and applied econometrics.

Professor Tim Robinson, BEcon. (Hons), PhD (Qld), worked in the private sector for seven years prior to embarking upon an academic career. Part of his time in the private sector was spent running his own small business. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Economics at Queensland University of Technology where he previously held the position of Professor and Head of School of Economics and Finance. As well as having taught introductory and intermediate economics at a number of universities over many years, he has also published in the areas of environmental economics, applied welfare economics, history of economic thought, the teaching of economics, and the new economy. Books he has authored or co-authored include Economic Theories of Exhaustible Resources, Work, Leisure and the Environment; Macroeconomics: A Contemporary Introduction and Microeconomics: A Contemporary Introduction. He has also undertaken economic consulting work in the areas of curriculum development, financial investment, taxation, and the environment.

Tommy Tang has taught economics and statistics at university for more than 2 decades. He is passionate about education and his contribution to teaching in economics and statistics was recognised at the university and national levels, winning several teaching awards, including the prestigious Australian Learning and Teaching Council Teaching Excellence Award (2011). Tommy received his PhD at QUT in 2008. His research has been centred in economics education. He was appointed to the Australian Office of Learning and Teaching Economics Learning Standards Working Party to develop the learning standards for undergraduate and postgraduate economics programs in 2012–13. He was invited by the DVC (T&L) to sit on QUT Australian Awards for University Teaching Selection Committee from 2013–2018. His academic leadership at QUT also include Subject Area Coordinator of Economics (2008–2013) and Chair of the Teaching and Learning Committee (2007–2013; 2016–2018) in the School of Economics and Finance. Tommy has been selected as one of the 24 Inaugural reviewers in the QUT ExPRET (Expert Peer Review of Educational Practice) Program, and is a senior fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.

Dinusha Dharmaratna has been in academia for more than 10 years and she has extensive experience in both teaching and researching. She is unit leader for one of the Economics units at Monash College and is actively engaged in many teaching and learning research projects, including implementing a number of strategies to promote active student engagement and learning in the classroom. These include blended learning strategies such as gamification, peer-review assessments, and principles of cognitive psychology to promote collaboration and engagement. Dinusha completed her PhD in Economics in 2009 and Master of Education at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. She was awarded the 2009 E. Gray Prize for the most significant contribution to Australia-Sri Lanka relations for her thesis. Her research interests are in the fields of environmental economics with a special focus on renewable resource management, climate change issues and agricultural and urban water management. Her recent publications have appeared in the WHO Bulletin, Water Resources Management, the Journal of Asia Pacific Economy and the Asia Pacific Journal of Economics and Business. Her research in environmental economics has the potential for contributing towards policy making, in relation to environmental and developmental issues.

Irvin Tucker has more than 30 years of experience teaching introductory economics at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Dr Tucker is the former director of the Center for Economics Education at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. His work has received national recognition by being awarded the Meritorious Leavy Award for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education, the Federation of Independent Business Award for Postsecondary Educator of the Year in Entrepreneurship and Economic Education, and the Freedoms Foundation George Washington Honor Medal for Excellence in Economic Education.