Worldonomics UQES Diversity Team 2024

Grandmaster and Behavioural Economist David Smerdon discusses the reasons behind the gender gap in Chess, behavioural theories behind the gap, Smerdon's Scandinavian, his journey from Chess to Economics, and playing world champion Magnus Carlson (and almost beating him)!

To kick off this semester’s exciting lineup of episodes, get to know the diversity team and what makes up our individual perspectives. This week we discuss our personal uni journeys, what drove us to economics, and what makes us unique outside of uni.

In the third installment of our Internship Experiences series, we interview our very own UQES executives, Thomas Mitchell and Kosei Stephenson. Both Thomas (Publications Officer) and Kosei (Socials Officer and Sports/Culture Director) indulge us in their fascinating summer experience, working as interns in the finance function for Boeing Defense Australia.

In this weeks Worldonomics Podcast episode we interview our very own Vice President of Publications Charlotte Thorne.  When she isn't busy writing and editing our publications pieces Charlotte has been wracking up Qantas points as she completed two summer internships, both in Brisbane and in Sydney.


Charlotte gained these internship opportunities as a recipient of the Pinnacle Women in Finance Scholarship. In this episode Charlotte tells us all about the scholarship and what she learnt from her internships at Resolution Capital and Hyperion Asset management. 

The first interview of our Internship Experiences series, in which we discuss the highs and lows of Economics internships. Episode one features our own UQES Treasurer Olivia Uy and a discussion on her experience at J.P Morgan in Sydney this past summer.

This week the UQES Diversity team present an interview with Robin Barlow,  founding director of NineSquared, an economics consulting firm based in Brisbane.

 Robin has had a fascinating career, primarily focused on transport economics. In this episode we discuss the beginning of his career, his time in the public sector, and some of the ins and outs of how economic decisions are made in regard to public transport. Come back next week to hear Robin's perspective on private economic consulting, and the challenges and advantages of starting your own firm.