James Giesecke and Robert Waschik

James Giesecke is a Professor at the Centre of Policy Studies (CoPS) at Victoria University. Prior to this, he was Professor and Director of CoPS at Victoria University (Jan. 2014 – Jan. 2024); and Professor and Deputy Director (2012-14), Assoc Prof (2006-12), and Senior Research Fellow (2002-06) at CoPS at Monash University. His research is in the development of large-scale multi-regional and national computable general equilibrium models, and the application of these models to the analysis of the determinants of economic growth and structural change, forecasting, and policy analysis. He has published over sixty papers in peer-reviewed journals and edited books on these topics and has over thirty years of experience applying economic models to diverse domestic and international public policy questions through contract research engagements with a wide range of government departments both in Australia and overseas. Dr Robert Waschik is an Associate Professor and Deputy Director with the Centre of Policy Studies (CoPS). Before joining CoPS in April 2015 he was a Senior Lecturer in the School of Economics at La Trobe University. He moved to Australia from his native Canada in July 2000, where we worked as an Assistant/Associate Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. He has considerable experience teaching subjects in international trade, public economics and general equilibrium modelling, and has supervised a number of HDR students over the past 30 years. He earned his PhD in Economics from Western University in London, Canada, in 1990. He has published over 20 articles in refereed academic journals. His recent research projects have included: - modelling the effects of transportation infrastructure investment projects in a CGE model for the Department of Transportation in the US and the State of Victoria - evaluating the contribution to their local regional economy made by the campuses of Universities which are members of the Regional Universities Network (RUN) - using a CGE model to evaluate the effects of Local Content Restrictions like the US’s “Buy America” program and those applied by the State of Victoria in the Level Crossings Removal Project.