The absence of good time series data makes it difficult to analyse the economic history of Papua New Guinea (PNG). This paper aims to fill this gap by providing time series for various important economic indicators since independence in 1975 or as close as possible thereafter. The data will be available online for researchers as the PNG Economic Database, which is the source for the 36 graphs in the paper. The chapter also contains some analysis to tie the data together and begin to realise their value, and includes a summary of 15 findings of particular interest.
Speakers
Professor Stephen Howes
Director, Development Policy Centre, ANU
Rohan Fox
Research Officer, Development Policy Centre, ANU
Maholopa Laveil
Lecturer, Economics Division, UPNG
Luke McKenzie
Analyst, Department of the Treasury
Dr Albert Prabhakar Gudapati
Head of Economics Division, UPNG
Dek Joe Sum
Associate Lecturer and Project Coordinator, Development Policy Centre, ANU
The ANU-UPNG seminar series is part of the partnership between the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy and the UPNG School of Business and Public Policy, supported by the PNG-Aus Partnership.
This seminar is free and open to the public. Registration is required to attend the seminar. You can attend at the Acton Theatre (Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU), at the MBA Suite (SBPP building, UPNG), or online via Zoom.
PNG contact:
Julie Sowano
E jsowano@upng.ac.pg
T +675 3267301
Why start your time series at Independence? Convenience-for what? Intellectual rigour-hardly? Availability of information-hardly? The predominance of economists on the research panel-most with limited published research on the economic history of PNG?
Apart from information available in ANU libraries, there is the National Library, the National Archives and inter-library loan as well as any number of people living in Canberra with personal collections of information that include the pre-Independence period, which could be utilised for a more substantial `history’.
Is this time series serious research or just another piece of cherry picking like so many previous accounts of PNG, including on agriculture and other aspects of `economic history’?