Profile Tim Harcourt

When Tim Harcourt's grandfather arrived in Australia from Hungary, he changed his name so he would be accepted as a Bondi lifesaver. Thus Kopel Harkowitz became Ken Harcourt.

Fast forward 80 years and Tim Harcourt is determined his adopted five-year-old Chinese daughter, Yun Shi, will not have to do the same.

"People shouldn't have to change their name to fit in," says Harcourt, 44, the chief economist for the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade). He has held the post for a decade, analysing the global economy to help Australian exporters and investors do business overseas, as well as promoting Australia as a place to do business.

He travels the world sniffing out Australian success stories, although he says he's cut back his globetrotting since he and his wife adopted Yun Shi in 2005.

Even so, he's managed to visit 40 countries in the past four years and distil the stories into a bestselling book, The Airport Economist, published in 2008. In it, he describes interviewing model Megan Gale ("a born global export") in Milan and how Israeli children are mad for Tim Tams and the French are crazy for Billabong shorts.

It sounds a lot more exciting than the average economist's life and Harcourt says that landing "the most wonderful job in the world" at the age of 33 has been his biggest career break.

"In the first few years I had to put up with all these consultants telling me about the new economy and that Australia's days as a commodities exporter were over," he says.

"But we don't have to close down all our primary industries and become a Taiwan - rocks and crops are still important."

Harcourt grew up in Adelaide, the son of an economics teacher father and a mother who once stood for parliament. Debate around the dinner table centred on politics, unemployment, inflation and strikes, which sparked the young Harcourt's interest in the labour market.

At 14, he travelled to Melbourne on holiday and turned up at the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) office to tell them he would like to work there one day.

The advice was to get a law or economics degree first; he took the latter option, completing an honours economics degree from Adelaide University before landing a job at the Arbitration Commission.

After helping to resolve industrial disputes for two years, Harcourt headed to the US to do a masters degree in economics at the University of Minnesota, where he compared unemployment rates in the US and Australia. Having phoned the ACTU to get some data, he was told to finish his masters and then work for them, which he did - fulfilling his ambition as a 14-year-old.

Harcourt spent nine years at the ACTU from 1991, during an era that spanned the establishment of universal superannuation, the national wage case and a lot of airline industrial work.

He says his Austrade role is also about workers - securing jobs for the next generation by encouraging exports.

He sees the biggest trend during his tenure as the growth of emerging markets such as China and India. "It's the replacement of the tyranny of distance with the power of proximity," he says.

THE BIG QUESTIONS

Biggest break Probably my job at Austrade. Becoming chief economist at 33 and representing Australia but also seeing all the facets of domestic and international life.

Biggest achievement Professionally, it's being able to take a reasonably difficult and technical subject like economics and make it understood by every Australian.

Biggest regret Not staying at university a couple more years. I was in a rush to get to the ACTU. I could have done a bit more law, maybe qualified as a lawyer.

Best investment My education. And the Australian thing - buying my own house. Superannuation has also been wonderful. And investing in my marriage and family.

Worst investment I've been lucky, which is a surprise as my grandfather was a professional punter. I've won [bets] every year on the Melbourne Cup since I moved to Sydney in 1999.

Attitude to money It's really important for peace of mind and stability. My grandparents on both sides had difficulties during the Great Depression, they had a lot of instability. Having a safety net is very important - but you also have to do what really suits you.

Personal philosophy I try to be egalitarian and respectful and treat everyone as I'd like to be treated. I try to look for the things I have in common with others.