Max Corden (1927–2023)

Born Werner Max Cohen, Corden escaped from Breslau with his family in 1939 and arrived in Australia, where they changed their name to Corden.

Gaining scholarships from Melbourne High School for the University of Melbourne and Queens College, Corden graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours). While working with The Argus newspaper and the Commonwealth Department of National Development, he completed his Master of Commerce, with a thesis on the economics of the newspaper industry.

After completing his PhD in 1956 at the London School of Economics (LSE), he worked for two years at the National Institute in London. Returning to the Faculty of Economics and Commerce, Corden taught international economics, as well as trade and development. His vision provided stimulus for the establishment of a research group which eventually led to the Melbourne Institute. Next, he joined the ANU’s Research School of Pacific Studies in 1962.

Protection and trade

His seminal article about the impact of the tariff structure on industry value was published in the Journal of Political Economy (1966). The voluminous academic literature and international debate led to Corden’s important book, The Theory of Protection (1971).

The case for the Australian Government‘s radical 25-per-cent tariff cut in 1973 was informed by Corden’s work on tariff reform.

In Trade Policy and Economic Welfare (1974, republished in 1997), Corden sets out almost the whole of what is important in economic thinking and international trade.

Appointed as the Nuffield Reader in International Economics at Oxford in 1967, Corden enjoyed being in England again, and nine years in Oxford was the "high point" in his career.

Boom years

Returning to ANU as Professor of Economics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (1977–1988), Corden was also seconded for two years to the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC. His research was devoted to the debt crisis in developing countries.

By 1982, Corden’s interest in booming-sector economics (the so-called ‘Dutch disease’) led to the major paper ‘Booming Sector and De-industrialization in a Small Open Economy’, which was co-authored with Peter Neary and published in The Economic Journal. It is considered a foundational reference on the subject today and is his most widely cited paper.

Corden’s influential writing on macroeconomic dimensions of economic growth and development continued with his appointment as Professor and Chair of the School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University, Washington DC (1988–2002). For 14 years, Corden was a member of the Rockefeller’s Group of 30 Eminent Economists (1982–1996).

Awards and legacies

Awarded Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), the Australian Government’s highest civilian award, Corden was recognised for service as a leading international economist, particularly in the area of international trade and finance policy development. He left a mark on Australian public policy without ever occupying government office because of "the clarity and rigour of his thinking".

Among the colleagues and students at the universities where Corden held appointments, he has left a lasting legacy. The ANU named the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics in his and Heinz Arndt’s name. The University of Melbourne holds the annual Corden Lecture. Corden’s autobiography, Lucky Boy in a Lucky Country, was published in 2017.

In 2003, Corden returned to the Faculty of Business and Economics as a Professorial Fellow and worked from there into his 90s. Concurrently, he was Emeritus Professor of International Economics at John Hopkins University. In his fifty-year career, Corden held influential academic roles, published a vast output of papers, chapters and books, presented key lectures, and gained local and international honours.