It is with incredible excitement that I present to you the fourth edition of Equilibrium. As ESSA has strengthened its position as the premier student voice of economics in Australia, this publication endeavours to both showcase the achievements of the society in 2015 and contribute to its ongoing success.

This year posed a unique challenge in the creation of Equilibrium as I was on exchange in Paris for the latter half of the year – precisely when the publication is compiled and edited. While this was an initial hurdle, it certainly provided me with the motivation that I needed to spread out the necessary work more evenly across the year. There were emails, messages and Skype calls aplenty in order to accomplish what seemed to be a mammoth task – with the time difference calculations between France and Australia adding a nice numerical touch to the whole situation. And finally, after countless hours of planning, editing and formatting, the work has come to a close in making Equilibrium 2015 a reality.

Of course, all of this would not have been possible without the brilliant Publications teams at Melbourne and Monash. Firstly, to Lisa Panigrahi and Oscar Han, the Publications Directors – thank you for being a source of unwavering support during what was sometimes a tumultuous year. To Neisha Bond – thank you for your incredible design work in making Equilibrium look so stunning. To Tom Crowley, Olivia Robins, Hugh Oliver and Carl Buhariwala, the Editors – thank you for helping me in creating this. To James Maccarrone, thank you for being my liaison back in Melbourne and organising all of the behind-the-scenes logistics.

To Richard Lee, Rebecca Satkunam, Stella Que and Ben Falloon, thank you for your hard work in creating our first ever ‘Year in Review’ infographic. To the ESSA committee – thank you for all your help and support, it really has meant a lot. And finally, my sincerest thanks to all our contributors – student, academic and professional – for your insightful and fascinating writing. 2015 saw a record number of contributions from our writers, from all around Australia, and without them Equilibrium simply would not have been achievable.

From here, it is with much anticipation and excitement that I will be continuing on in ESSA as the Publications Director for Melbourne in 2016, which is certain to be another installment of the society reaching new heights.

And so I present to you the 2015 edition of Equilibrium. It has been an honour to bring together such an engaged and vibrant discussion of economics, from a wide range of perspectives. I hope you enjoy the publication as much as I did in creating it.

Happy reading! •

Priyanka Banerjee

Equilibrium Editor (ESSA Melbourne)