Peter Robertson

Economist, University of Western Australia, personal views and opinions.

[Peter Robertson @RobertsonPeterE]

Great News from India. We look forward to welcoming our students soon.

[The University of Western Australia India @uwaindia]

UWA India becomes the first Go8 university in Mumbai to officially receive its Letter of Approval from the University Grants Commission (UGC), marking a significant milestone.

We can't wait to welcome our very first cohort in September 2026!

​#UWAIndia #UGC

[Peter Robertson @RobertsonPeterE]

University of Western Australia’s legend Barry Marshall, @uwanews.

[Interesting STEM @InterestingSTEM]

Barry Marshall won the noble prize in 2005.

He was convinced that the Helicobacter pylori bacteria caused stomach ulcers, but no one believed him. Since it was illegal to test on humans, he drank the bacteria himself & developed ulcers within days. He treated them with antibiotics.

[UWA @uwanews]

🎓Discover more about the international business and community leaders, advocates for human rights and equity, and champions of education and public health who are being honoured during #UWA graduations. 👩‍🎓 👨‍🎓
https://t.co/8gFAF4Js42

[Peter Robertson @RobertsonPeterE]

Congratulations Simon that is an incredible achievement and we are all very proud of you at UWA Economics! Congratulations to the team also.

[Simon Mongey @Simon_Mongey]

What an honor to be part of a great team! Thanks again to @ecmaEditors and @econometricsoc!

[Peter Robertson @RobertsonPeterE]

AI currently ignores George Orwell’s dictum, “never use a long word when a short word will do.” A very clever expansion of this idea by The Economist.

[The Economist @TheEconomist]

Five texts that explain how to write simply and well https://t.co/y6iGZ8sHi5

[Peter Robertson @RobertsonPeterE]

Loss of a legend- great memories.

[Eric Idle @EricIdle]

I’m very sad Bill Oddie has gone.
He was sick for some time and I wrote to him. He auditioned me for The Pembroke Revue in 1963 and I stepped into his roles for The Edinburgh Festival when the Cambridge Footlights went to the West End. We watched England win the World Cup together at Wembley in ‘66. He was a very fine songwriter and I learned a lot from him. He came to France and is in my book. We even had Chelsea Season Tickets together.
I miss him.

[Elbridge Colby @ElbridgeColby]

I fundamentally disagree. PPP is imperfect but using market exchange is far worse for strategic analysis. Actually using defense PPP may make the situation look even grimmer.

Bottom line: Who can produce tons of military stuff relatively quickly?

https://t.co/mss7DTvk2M

[Richard Baldwin @BaldwinRE]

Dear Fellow Econ Profs:
1) Fable is back; floodgates of written, quality econ research are open.
2) In general equilibrium cost determines value.
3) The value of your written research will be debased.
🎇 Will we, like musicians, will be paid for our live performances of our research, not the research?

[Peter Robertson @RobertsonPeterE]

The picture is a thousand worlds. Great graphic showing imperial economic history over 200 years in The Economist

[Sondre Ulvund Solstad @Sondreus]

Measuring the size of economies going back centuries is tricky, but starting in 1820, a picture can be drawn. It shows the remarkable rise of a small country to world dominance.

[Peter Robertson @RobertsonPeterE]

The data are also available at the Military Purchasing Power website https://t.co/4KvT0j718o

[Peter Robertson @RobertsonPeterE]

Military purchasing-power adjustments to the latest SIPRI data suggest non-U.S. NATO military spending is around 85% of the U.S. total.

The Economist’s latest military spending analysis incorporates the updated estimates. @uwanews

https://t.co/dB107LE2fG

[Peter Robertson @RobertsonPeterE]

@shashj Good call @shashj predicting an invasion was likely as early as 16 December - in the “War Room”. https://t.co/cNtMS9aWj2

[Peter Robertson @RobertsonPeterE]

Australian workers 4th richest in the world … in terms of Big Macs! (from @TheEconomist) https://t.co/MJexnLl3Nw

[Peter Robertson @RobertsonPeterE]

Entertaining and appropriately cynical summary of the Reform Roundtable by Judith Sloan “And the wooden spoon for worst reform idea goes to” …. https://t.co/vQL2P5k0L1

[Richard Baldwin @BaldwinRE]

Trump pushed his 1Aug deadline to 7Aug (a clear TACO) & didnt get called on it! TACO=“Tariff-Announcement Climbdown Obfuscated”
👉such masterful misdirection!

[The National Interest @TheNatlInterest]

The Senate NDAA proposal will not only raise defense spending but also devote resources to urgent priorities, especially in the Indo-Pacific, writes Wilson Beaver. https://t.co/luJsPI70he

[Voices of Liberty @FreedomVoL]

“In order to make people equal, you have to treat them differently. If you treat people alike, the result is necessarily inequality.”

— Friedrich Hayek

[Peter Robertson @RobertsonPeterE]

“Russia gets the equivalent of 41 per cent of US military spending for just 24 per cent of the cost.” Insightful discussion of military ppp concepts and implications for NATO in the Sunday Times.

[Tom Calver @TomHCalver]

Why it's hard to get that excited about Britain's modest rise in defence spending

This week's @thetimes column
https://t.co/8KoH3zEUQL

[Business News @wabusinessnews]

UWA research shows costs, funding hole drain charities: #community #arts https://t.co/zYvlMfkSey