Dr Richard Denniss is Chief Economist at The Australia Institute, Australia’s foremost public policy think tank. Richard is renowned for his ability to clearly explain complicated economic ideas and develop creative new solutions. A former associate professor at the Crawford School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University, Richard also worked as chief of staff for the then leader of the Australian Democrats, senator Natasha Stott Despoja, and as strategy adviser to the then leader of the Australian Greens, senator Bob Brown, as well as working as a consultant, company director and strategy adviser in the private sector. A prolific writer, Richard regularly contributes to The Guardian, The Australian Financial Review, The Saturday Paper and The Monthly. He has written or co-written six books, including the bestselling Affluenza: When too Much Is Never Enough and Econobabble: How to Decode Political Spin and Economic Nonsense.