The Airport Economist

Couple of days ago, I attended a business luncheon at Spaghettinis organized by the Australian High Commission and Austrade. The lunch featured a talk by a superb speaker from Autralia, Tim Harcourt aka The Airport Economist, who gave an entertaining overview of the global economy and where ASEAN is at in relation to the other economies.

Tim Harcourt is the chief economist of the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade). As chief economist Tim analyses the global economy to help Australian exporters and helps Austrade devise its own international business strategies. A prolific author and globetrotter, Tim has visited over 40 countries in the past four years alone.

Tim is an active commentator in the Australian and international media on economic and trade issues. Tim appears regularly on TV and radio shows including on Business Lateline, Lateline, Business Today, Mornings with Kerri-Anne, Sunday, Sunrise, Bloomberg, CCTV, BBC and CNBC Asia. Tim also writes for a number of major publications including The Australian Financial Review, The Business Review Weekly, The Age, The Australian, The Advertiser, The OECD Observer, The Economic Times and various websites and blogs.

Before joining Austrade, Tim was an economist and industrial advocate with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). Tim has also worked for the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and has overseas experience in the corporate sector in the UK, USA and Israel.

Tim was educated at the University of Adelaide, the University of Minnesota and Harvard University.