For more than 25 years I taught with pictures of famous economists above the black/whiteboard to inspire my students. They were: Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes and Milton Friedman. Guess who completed the row? On behalf of economics HSC students and teachers, thanks, Ross, for being enlightening and critical reading. Neal Townley, Lewisham
Ross GittinsCredit: Cathy Wilcox
Since 1978, Ross Gittins has delivered a lecture for western Sydney HSC students, organised by the Western Sydney Social Sciences Teachers Association. Ross has been the “headline act” at these days for more than 20 years and has expressed his determination to continue to support the less advantaged students of western Sydney. The association has been able to keep student lecture prices low because of his commitment. A big thank you to Ross from teachers and students of Western Sydney. Steve Etheridge, Mt Riverview
As a teacher and member of the Western Sydney Social Sciences Teachers Association we felt our students would benefit from HSC economics lecture days. Ross was invited to speak and he eagerly accepted. It was a Saturday and a hush fell over the 300 students and teachers gathered in the St Marys Senior High School hall as Ross was introduced for the first time. His presentation was brilliant and we knew we had a winner at engaging students and improving economic literacy for the HSC. Thank you Ross for all the help to teachers and especially HSC students over the years. Robert Mulas, Corlette
The Hunter Valley Social Science Teachers Association of the 1980s will be forever grateful to Ross. For years, he would outline the federal government’s macroeconomic and microeconomic policies to the Year 12 economic students in the Hunter region. And who could forget the signature ties he wore? Thanks again Ross, for your services to the students of the Hunter. Michael Perkins, New Lambton Heights
At university, I was a below-average student of economics and gave up in second year to study politics. In my second year of teaching I was handed a year 12 economics class and without Ross it would have been a disaster. His clear, concise and wonderfully written analyses of economic policy, trends and outcomes enabled my long-suffering students to not only survive that year but to achieve very good results. Peter Cooper-Southam, Frenchs Forest
Quite a few years ago I was given a year 9 commerce class to teach. My knowledge of commerce was mainly confined to that gained from writing one essay on the economics of education at university. So I read the textbook the nights before class and I gratefully read everything Ross Gittins wrote. His writings were both educational and really entertaining and my commerce classes and I got to know him quite well during that one year. I still read his work and that hasn’t changed. Mary Billing, Allambie Heights
The members of a small but enthusiastic economics class at Guyra Central School banded together, wrote to Ross Gittins and requested an appropriately inscribed glossy photo which they handsomely framed and presented to me. I still have it. Gus Plater, Saratoga
I was an economics teacher for many years and one of the best teaching aids I ever had was Ross Gittins’s column. For a student aged 15 to 19 who basically had little knowledge of the economy it gave simple, concise information in a language they could understand and relate to their experience. I used his column many, many times as part of an exam paper and as stimulus for a class discussion. I have continued to read his column in the many years since I retired and I think the same can be said for many past students I met up with in various situations. Judy Urquhart, Kyle Bay
As a teacher of economics, I was greatly indebted to Ross Gittins for his lucid and relevant articles in the Age and the Herald. I first used his articles in the early 1980s in Victoria - nearly every part of the syllabus was able to be referenced by one of Ross’s articles. I took my portfolio of articles with me when I moved to Canberra in 1985 where I taught economics for 13 years for the HSC. The advances in technology enabled me to provide my classes with photocopies of articles pertinent to a particular part of the syllabus. Michael Bright, Moss Vale
Fifty years of wisdom for teachers and students
Ross, if only you knew the loyalty and fervour that you inspired in my (then) 15-year-old daughter. While most teenage pin-ups were Ryan Adams or Noel Gallagher, you were her pick. She travelled from the country to Mosman Library to hear you talk, she cut out your articles, read your books and quoted your words. She is now a successful criminal defence lawyer who calls out inequity and seeks to redress injustice. I know you played a part in that. Sonia Berry, Neutral Bay
Ross GittinsCredit: Steven Siewert
I wanted to say thank you for contributing to my education many years ago. I remember pouring over Ross Gittins articles in my economics class in high school with the teacher expanding on every sentence. The articles I had ended up full of annotations and made me more confident and more interested in economics, and always keen to read any article by Ross Gittins. Paridhi Garg, Baulkham Hills
An economics essay submitted by our son in the lead-up to the 1990 HSC earned a very high mark. Even more prized was the teacher’s comment that it was “an analysis worthy of Ross Gittins”. High praise indeed. Bernadette Astill, Manly
In 1979, my four HSC economics essays were predicated on my interpretation of “what would Gittins say?” Forty-five years on, that principle continues to keep me in excellent stead. Kris Gale, Pyrmont
As HSC economics students, it was our weekly task to present an annotated scrapbook of Gittins’ magnificent articles to our teacher for review. Since then, working as a high school economics teacher and undertaking doctoral studies, I still regularly refer to his wisdom. Caroline David, Mount Pleasant
Ross Gittins has had a huge influence on my thinking and interest in economics and public policy. I completed a degree in economic geography, then a PhD in transport and environmental economics, and a master’s in public policy. I cannot express my appreciation enough to Ross Gittins for his writings and his social justice perspective. Rhonda Daniels, Sutherland
In the late 80s I was fortunate to have an inspiring HSC economics teacher who happened to author the textbook that all schools used. He brought the subject to life and he made it compulsory for us to read every Ross Gittins article. I still do. Aside from Gittins’ similar gift for making economic theory accessible, his most vital contribution is to centre economic rationalism within an ethical imperative to improve the quality of life for all people. Matthew Flattery, Middle Cove
My first memory of reading Ross Gittins’ articles was when I started studying HSC economics in 1983. My teacher advised the class that reading him was better than any textbook. He was absolutely right and the class results proved this. Since then I have always read Gittins’ wise, thoughtful, compassionate pieces. A stellar career and one that has really made a difference. Sarah Johnson Sandy Bay (Tas)
Ross Gittins, my HSC economics classes saviour in the 1980s; we read your articles daily. Thanks to you, my class scored wonderfully. Nothing has changed – your articles are still read with great insight for the layman. Evelyn Palmer, Vaucluse
When challenged that his economics student lectures were providing further advantage to those students who were already advantaged, Ross embarked upon a series of lectures for teachers and students in regional NSW to ensure greater equity of access to his unique insights and observations about government policy and the economy. Now that is smart economics - a more equitable distribution of a very scarce resource. Thank you, Ross. Bronwyn Hession, Waitara
True pro deserves all the plaudits
Ross has a trick he uses to sail through federal budget lockups. Before going in and being presented with mountains of documents with few hours to go through them, he pre-writes a piece based on what he thinks the documents will say. Then while all the journalists (including me) are sweating, he flips through the documents and tweaks a word here and a paragraph there, seeming to enjoy himself. One year, it was genuinely impossible to know what would be in the budget. I confronted Ross as the lock-up began and told him that this year his system wouldn’t work. He couldn’t have pre-written a piece because no one knew the direction the treasurer was going to jump. Ross told me he had pre-written two. Peter Martin, Canberra
Ross Gittins celebrates covering his 50th federal budget. May 9, 2023.Credit: Brook Mitchell
In the ’80s when my daughter was in year 12 her economics teacher referred to Ross Gittins so often and with such enthusiasm, my daughter thought they must have been married. Tom Duley, Bronte
Happy 50th anniversary Ross! I will never forget the kindness and generosity you showed me when, as an extremely nervous journalism student in 1986, I sat down to interview you about economics reporting. You were already a legend back then, hence my anxiety! I learnt so much from our chat and have been a dedicated reader of your commentary ever since. Michael Rowland, Yarraville (Vic.)
I’m concerned one of Ross’ major contributions to Australian life will be overlooked: his sense of fashion. He’s played no small part in making the Dunlop KT26 shoe the icon it is today. I recall him shambling into a business black-tie affair with a pair below his rumpled suit. A starstruck banker begged an introduction but was so taken with the KT26s that all the speech he could muster was “they’re not very businesslike”. Ross replied, rather gently, “but then, I’m not in business, am I?“
Ian Cassie, Elizabeth Bay
As a musician rather than an economist, I would like to thank Ross Gittins for writing about economic matters in language I can understand, always flavoured with a social justice viewpoint. Imagine my delight when I also spied him singing in the Sydney Philharmonia’s Chorus Oz! So not only is he a caring, articulate economist, but he also enjoys singing beautiful music - a very well-rounded, sensitive human being. Megwenya Matthews, Nth Turramurra
I recall in 1984 being encouraged by my economics teacher to read Ross Gittins. Alas, I paid her no heed. However, one of her students did take her advice, a certain Philip Lowe, and he went on to become governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia. If only I’d taken Mrs King’s advice I too could have understood the subtle difference between a “soft landing” and a high-jump mat. Stephen Driscoll, Castle Hill
Congratulations, Ross, on 50 years of effective writing and social advocacy. Never content to “stay in his lane”, and fortified by his innate decency and real-world experiences, Mr Gittins has consistently identified what economic changes or policies will most benefit the nation and very particularly those without a voice. Stephanie Dowrick, Darwin (NT)
As a Herald business sub-editor in the mid-’80s, I recall occasions when Ross would bail up me, and others, seeking clarification or debate on the right words to explain particular concepts. Such was his determination to make his world truly accessible. A wordsmith for the people, that one. Long may he reign, and continue to serve as an example of how great journalism is done. Bradley Wynne, Croydon
A toast to Mr Gittins, for his years of insightful and compassionate articles about economics, politics and society. His perceptive analyses of how the workers bear the burden of political decisions that favour capital are always instructive, and his ability to make economic theories accessible to those of us who are unversed in this area of study is remarkable. Let’s hope Mr Gittins keeps writing to help keep the balance in an area of discussion that is too frequently dominated by theory, and by writers who fail to acknowledge that the economy should serve the many, not the few. Patricia Lowson, Strathfield
Apart from Ross Gittins being the guru of the economics teacher who taught my sons in the 1990s, there’s another reason I hold him in extra-high esteem. That is the “daughters of Gittins”, first Jessica Irvine and now Millie Muroi; both have written insightful, balanced articles and share his values of social equity. Valerie Reynolds, Greenwich
Ross Gittins and Millie Muroi Credit: Wolter Peeters
At the 2016 annual Fairfax subscribers event, readers were asked to submit questions for journalists attending the meeting. My question was read out, in which I described Ross as a “pathological optimist” and asked him his thoughts. Ross obviously liked my question so much he wrote about it in his following weekly column. In his usual alacrity he opined that optimists live happier lives than pessimists, and live longer with better physical and mental health. Ross believed that most readers were optimists like him. Years later, with the bad things happening around us, we need Ross’s optimism like never before. Mariusz Dechnik, Marrickville
I was working at the Welfare Rights Centre in the late 1980s when Ross Gittins dropped in for a chat with our co-ordinator Julian Disney and have a look at a frontline welfare advice service. Most unusual for an economics journalist to bother understanding the “micro” before writing about the “macro”! I started reading Gittins regularly and haven’t stopped. Thanks, Ross, for decades of compassionate yet hard-edged analysis and commentary on economics and society. Craig Sahlin, Dulwich Hill
Not only being a rusted-on admirer of Ross Gittins’ erudite writings, I am also a strong believer in the underlying message which often comes through them, that quality of life cannot be measured simply in financial terms. Also taken to heart has been the advice he delivered at one of the Herald’s subscriber talks; don’t retire if you are enjoying it and able to keep doing it. Louise Dolan, Birchgrove
As a Herald sub-editor for most of my career I rarely needed to question what Ross had written. When I did, he responded both gratefully and graciously. In an industry where egos are sometimes fragile, liaising with Ross was blissfully free of drama. Bill Farrelly, Cherrybrook
Ross Gittins reminds me of the zen archer who extinguishes a candle in the dark. Citations and degrees not needed. Just lots of practise at knowing where the problem is and aiming for its heart. Congratulations. 50 years of bullseyes! Peter Skrzynecki, Eastwood
There are hundreds of students and their teachers who I am sure would warmly like to thank Ross for the effect he has had on their understanding and love of economics. I attended a student economic seminar day back in the 1980s, where each student from a particular school held up a letter that together formed the worlds “We Love You Ross.” Greg Daly, Mt Keira
Ross Gittins is a national living treasure, always readable regardless of his subject. More importantly, he is a man with a wider viewpoint and greater understanding of people than most of our politicians and bureaucrats. If only he ran the Treasury and Department of Finance. Susan Jones, Hamilton
Thinking woman’s sex symbol - and much more
Congratulations Ross. 50 years of respected opinions based on truly independent analysis. David Hickie, Chatswood
Ross Gittins in 1984.Credit: Ross Anthony Willis
I owe my interest in economics to reading Ross Gittins as a high school student. Peter Tulip, Roseville
Ah, Ross. The thinking woman’s sex symbol. Chris McGregor, Cabarita
Just two words for the marvellous Mr Gittins. Thank you. Matthew Wilson, Putney
Congratulations to the fabulous Mr Gittins for 50 years of compulsory reading and sharing his humanity. Please clone yourself so we can all have one of you. Eva Elbourne, Pennant Hills
It was always reassuring to see Ross picking up his copy of The Economist at the local newsagent. I knew it would only be a few days before he explained the latest economic news in plain English.
Richard Spencer, Glebe
Way back in the ’70s Ross and I were new cadet journalists at the Herald - he a graduate and I fresh from the HSC. I remember telling him that being a graduate would take him no further in his career than me. Famous last words. Ken Cullen, Camperdown
Ross Gittins for PM! Tom Rubin, Cherrybrook
Highlight of my economics teaching career: my Year 12 class presenting me with Ross Gittins’ autograph! Jeanmaree Sexton, Lindfield
Congratulations to Ross. The column that, for the past 50 years, I have always read from start to finish. Glen Geor, St Leonards
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