Ian Young

The Hongcouver | That expert economist hogging headlines in Vancouver and Australia? Not 'technically' an economist

Philip Soos, cited as a Deakin University researcher and economist, is actually an IT grad and masters student passing off the university's address as his personal contact

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Philip Soos (left) and his LF Economics business partner Lindsay David. Neither is an economist. Photo: SCMP Picture

Ian Youngin Vancouver

Published: 7:00am, 8 Jul 2015Updated: 11:49am, 23 Feb 2016

The Hongcouver blog takes a detour via Australia this week to introduce you to Philip Soos, an expert economist from Down Under who has recently earned a level of fame uncommon for the dismal science.

Soos has been the subject of a thicket of headlines both in Canada and Australia. Here in Vancouver, he’s received attention for his opinions on the impact of Chinese money on the Aussie housing market (he’s dismissive), which supposedly parallels the experience in Vancouver. Back in Oz, he and colleague Lindsay David have been big news for the past couple of weeks because of their predictions of an impending market “bloodbath”, thanks to a bubble they link to indebted local speculators.

Soos has variously and repeatedly been described as an economist, a housing economist, and a leading economist. The Globe and Mail called him “an economist at Deakin University”. The Australian newspaper’s Alan Kohler called him a “lecturer at Deakin University”.

The trouble is that Soos, 30, is not an economist. He holds no economics degree, though he does have a bachelor’s degree in computing. Nor does he have any working relationship with Australia’s Deakin University, though he is a student, along with more than 45,000 others.

A screenshot of Philip Soos' personal website, showing that he lists Deakin University as his contact address. He currently has no professional link to the university and is one of its 45,000 or so students.

Soos may not have been personally touting himself as an esteemed Deakin University economist, but he hasn’t exactly gone out of his way to dispel the notion. For instance, even though he currently has no professional link to Deakin, his personal website oddly lists the university’s street address on Melbourne's Burwood Highway as his own contact address. He also uses a Deakin email address, such as is available to all students.