Presentation: Two circuit economics: the future of economics

Presenter: Dr Sean McNelis, Adjunct Research Fellow, Swinburne University of Technology

Two-circuit economics offers an optimistic view of how transformations in an economy will lead to a just sharing of the world’s natural resources. It is the future of economics.

Chronic economic problems continue to plague every facet of human life. This seminar is an introduction to two-circuit economics which was discovered in the early 1940s by Bernard Lonergan, a discovery ignored by the economics community. Two-circuit economics begins with facts and data, rather than economic models. It distinguishes two distinct circuits of production, a basic circuit and a surplus circuit. This structure is operative in all economies, international, national and regional. It is operative in firms of all sizes, from small businesses to global corporations. Two-circuit economics reveals the key relationships by which to understand any economy and any economic event.

This is an introductory seminar which begins with data accessible to everyone seeking a better society and does not require specialist knowledge or training in economics.

Dr Sean McNelis is an Adjunct Research Fellow at Swinburne University of Technology. He has over 40 years’ experience in housing management, housing policy and advocacy and, housing research. Over the past 20 years at Swinburne University, his research included: projects for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) on rental systems, homelessness services, asset management, housing for older people and rent regulation; housing strategies for local government; housing affordability indicators, and; quarterly reports on the private rental market in Victoria. In 2014, he published, Making Progress in Housing: A Framework for Collaborative Research (Routledge, London), which outlines a new framework for research and policy called Functional Collaboration based on the work of Canadian theologian, philosopher and economist, Bernard Lonergan. His interests include: social housing policy, in particular housing finance and rental systems; housing for older persons; housing co-operatives; the foundations of housing research; futurology, and; the economic and philosophic writings of Bernard Lonergan. His publications can be found on his website: artfulhousing.com.au/publications.

Schedule: 40 minute presentation followed by 30 minutes of questions and discussion.

Register at: https://lonergan.org.au/registration-2026-september/

This is the first of three seminars on “two-circuit economics”. The second seminar on “Introducing Innovative High School Economics” will be presented by Dr James Duffy and Professor Emeritus Terrance Quinn on Tuesday 10 November. The third seminar on “Economics as the Foundation of Democracy” will be presented by Robert Henman on Tuesday 9 March 2027. For more information about this series please visit our website.