Expert 'was really surprised' at lack of senior economists at Dept during crash

The Department of Finance did not have enough trained economists at the time of the crash, according to one expert giving evidence at the Banking Inquiry this morning.

Canadian civil servant Rob Wright says he was surprised at how few economists worked in the Department during the boom years.

Mr Wright said: "I was really surprised at the limited numbers of senior economists, masters level economists, that's a very low level, and we were quite direct about the need to get more.

"I talked a lot about that with everbody in the department, some who felt threatened about it.

"Again, people were very good, they are doing a good job, but we gave a lot of specific advice on what to do."