Torrens University & Modern Money Lab introduce global online economics of sustainability courses

In September 2022, Torrens University Australia will commence offering the suite of online postgraduate courses in economics of sustainability, based on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and ecological economics, designed by Modern Money Lab in partnership with the Torrens University.

The newly established Centre for Sustainable Prosperity (CSP) will undertake applied research that supports the goal of enabling economies, societies, and people to thrive and prosper within environmental, physical, financial and social limitations. Modern monetary theory is a critical enabler of this goal.

“The partnership ultimately supports the establishment and development of a new research centre for Torrens University Australia, enhancing the university’s research goals and social goals combined,” said Professor Alwyn Louw, Vice Chancellor of Torrens University Australia.

“Our curriculum and our research strategies reflect our essential role as a B Corp to contribute to social responsibility.”

“These courses meet a vitally important unmet need. This is the future of economics”, said Con Michalakis, the Chairman of Modern Money Lab.

“I couldn’t be more excited to have had the opportunity of helping to launch such a venture. The world needs a supply of well-trained economists who understand not only our planetary boundaries and the environmental challenges we face, but also the mechanics of money and finance and the appropriate role for governments to take.”

Torrens University Australia Adjunct Associate Professor Steven Hail will manage the courses. He regularly appears in the media, has given seminars at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and for several major financial institutions and is the author of ‘Economics for Sustainable Prosperity’.

“Currently no such university economics program combining Modern Monetary Theory with sustainability exists, to the best of our knowledge, anywhere in the world,” said Adjunct Associate Professor Steven Hail.

“The materials, assessments and courses have been developed to offer students an opportunity to learn and apply skills and to engage with and critically assess ideas relevant to economics of sustainability in the twenty-first century,” adds Adjunct Associate Professor Steven Hail.

The courses will sit alongside a research program that will initially be focused on sustainability indicators, and eventually diversify and grow with the advice of leading global modern monetary theorists in order to create thriving societies with more limited resources.

The suite includes a Graduate Certificate, a Graduate Diploma and a Masters’ degree in the Economics of Sustainability, with a doctoral program offered to suitably qualified applicants. The most notable consultant for the suite of courses is Professor Stephanie Kelton, author of the New York Times best-seller, ‘The Deficit Myth - How to Build a Better Economy’, former Chief Economist on the Senate Budget Committee in Washington D.C. and the world’s most prominent modern monetary theory economist.

Adjunct Professor Philip Lawn, one of Australia’s leading ecological economists, will be Research Head for the new Centre for Sustainable Prosperity at the University. He has published many peer-reviewed papers, including in A and A* rated academic journals, and written or edited several important books relating to the principles and policy aspects of sustainable development, most notably ‘Resolving the Climate Change Crisis: The Ecological Economics of Climate Change’.

Formal applications for Graduate Studies in the Economics of Sustainability will be accepted from July 2022 for commencement in September 2022. In the meantime, further information and an Expression of Interest Form can be found here.