Richard Holden

Richard Holden (born 2 December 1974) is an Australian economist and Professor of Economics at the University of New South Wales. He was previously a faculty member at the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Early life and education Holden was born in Sydney, Australia and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Sydney, where he was awarded the university medal in economics. He received an A.M and Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Career Holden is professor of economics at UNSW Business School, President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and is currently editor of the Journal of Law and Economics and is formerly an Australian Research Council Future Fellow. He is a fellow of the Econometric Society and a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. Holden's research, which mainly is centralized around topics including organizational, political, and law economics have garnered attention from prominent newspapers including: The New York Times, The Economist, and others. He has over 40 publications and 15 working papers/papers under review. Prior to his heavy involvement in the world of academia, Holden worked as an associate and senior consultant at Bain & Company (1997–1998) followed by time as an analyst, then as vice president for Pacific Equity Partners (1998–2001).

Affiliation with Blueprint Institute Upon its launch in mid-2020, Holden was appointed to the Strategic Council of the Blueprint Institute, an online think tank associated with moderate members of the Liberal Party. Holden resigned the following year over the use of donated funds to conduct polling on attitudes to climate change ahead of the 2022 federal election, along with economists Steven Hamilton, Gordon Leslie and Emilia Tjernstrom and research director Daniel D'Hotman.