How I Became an Economist

Abstract

How did I become an economist and not a historian? At school I liked history best, but when it came to choosing a university field, my father said, “No. You can read history in the evenings. Commerce will give you a choice of jobs”. The commerce degree at the University of Melbourne involved a lot of economics, and that is how I got into economics. Blame my father! I also learnt how to overcome shyness and thus how to speak as a teacher. That story is in this chapter.