Edward Shann

Edward Owen Giblin Shann (30 April 1884 – 23 May 1935, often written as E. O. G. Shann) was an Australian economist and historian. At a time when Australia's dominant economic philosophy favoured protectionist tariffs, Shann championed a more liberal approach. He is perhaps best remembered for his prediction of the Great Depression based on an analysis of similarities between the economic climate of the late 1880s and that of the late 1920s, for his involvement in the development of the University of Western Australia, and for his numerous works on economics and the defence of free trade.

Early life and education

Shann was born in 1884 in Hobart, Tasmania to Frank and Frances Shann, and was the youngest of four children.

In 1930 he was hired as the Bank of New South Wales' economic consultant, a full-time position in Sydney.

Shann famously predicted the Great Depression in his 1927 essay, The Boom of 1890 – and now, in which he likened the economic conditions of the late 1880s to those of the late 1920s, warning that a similarly dire economic decline might follow for similar reasons. This explanation has always been controversial: even at the time, some of his contemporaries suggested foul play.

Later analyses suggest that while suicide was perhaps not the correct explanation, foul play probably wasn't either. Rather, it suggests that his death was probably accidental: Shann, who had suffered from nervousness throughout his life, often felt faint, and when such an episode was upon him he would tend to rush to fresh air. He had indeed complained of faintness the day of his death and had delivered a lecture sitting down, unusually for him.

In a previous episode, described by his brother in a letter, Shann had hurt his finger and then rushed to the window for some fresh air; upon opening the window he collapsed and nearly fell out. Similarly, Keith Hancock wrote in a letter that Shann had told him he had been feeling faint, and related that he would often open a window to get some fresh air and then lose his balance. Unfortunately, these letters only surfaced after the coroner had pronounced the death a suicide. In light of them it now seems more likely that Shann had a similar episode, opened his window, and, feeling faint, simply fell out.