Frontier Economics marks 25 years of impactful leadership

As Frontier Economics celebrates its 25th anniversary, the consultancy firm is reflecting on its significant contributions to shaping economic policy across Melbourne and beyond.

Such a milestone also highlights the often overlooked, yet essential role economists play in driving decisions that shape our future.

Co-founded in 1999 by economist and managing director Danny Price, Frontier Economics has grown into a highly skilled team of more than 35 professionals based throughout Australia and Singapore. 

The firm’s expertise spans a wide range of sectors, including energy, transport, urban design, public policy, and more.

Though the public may not always recognise the influence of economists, their impact is felt across many facets of our daily lives, often working “behind the scenes” to ensure the delivery of projects and policies. 

“Most people think of an economist as having something to say about interest rates and unemployment, but in fact that’s not what we do here at all,” Mr Price said.

“There’s a lot of very practical things that we help with in urban environments, including Melbourne.”

In the CBD, economists at Frontier Economics play a key role in evaluating infrastructure and transport projects, ensuring they are delivered efficiently and also providing lasting value. 

Their influence can also be seen in projects that are less obvious, such as analysing the economic benefits of tree cover in urban parks to reduce energy consumption and improve “the quality of people’s lives”. 

“We do an enormous amount of environmental work on the value of urban environments, where it’s very difficult to attach a dollar value to something,” Mr Price told CBD News.

“Economists can be very good at attaching value to things to make sure that their value is seen by policymakers.”

From local community improvements around Melbourne, to advising on major national initiatives such as the development of South Australia’s “big battery,” Frontier Economics has been at the forefront of addressing some of Australia’s biggest challenges.

“The big battery was unique, no one had ever conceived of anything like that before. It completely changed the world in terms of the way we thought about energy markets and energy systems before that,” Mr Price said.

“Everyone thought we were mad, but it worked extremely well both on cost and on time and delivered the results as we predicted.” 

Currently, Frontier Economics is working on an analysis of the costs of nuclear power - another example of how the consultancy’s economic insights are helping shape national debates.

“I don’t think a lot of businesses understand the need for an economist; people don’t necessarily understand how it fits as part of our society,” marketing manager Priyanka Nadkarni added.

A major element of Frontier Economics’ success is its investment in an exceptional library system, housing one of Australia’s largest private collections, with more than 40,000 entries.

This vast resource allows their economists to access specialised research and data, ensuring their work is informed by the most up-to-date and comprehensive information available.

“I really value having a quality backlog of information that we can draw upon to show that we’ve actually either looked at these policies before, or had these policies in place, and how they performed and why we changed them,” Mr Price said.

Looking back over the past 25 years, Mr Price is most proud of the firm’s commitment to high quality, independent work, “always taking a principled stand on things even when it’s not popular”.

However Mr Price’s favourite part of the job is mentoring young economists and ensuring that the next generation continues the important work of Frontier Economics.

With a decline in economics enrolments, particularly among women, Mr Price is working closely with educational institutions to showcase the real-world value of economics “as a way of thinking”. 

“It’s really important to have better quality economists because then we make better decisions, so investing in future generations is really crucial,” he said.

“The choices we make can be a really powerful tool in making strong arguments for change to improve environmental and societal outcomes, and we do all that type of stuff. I think people should embrace economics more, not resist it.” •