Danielle Wood, the 415th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is a passionate believer in using evidence to guide public policy decisions. While that might sound obvious, many decisions are actually based on assumptions, instinct or expediency.

Danielle previously served as an economist at the ACCC, the competition regulator, and as CEO of the Grattan Institute, a think tank; now, she’s chair of the Productivity Commission, which provides independent advice to governments on economic, social and environmental issues.

During her career as an economist, Danielle has explored how incentives influence human behaviour. Theoretically, if you have a perfect understanding of every single person’s motivations, you can predict how a market will function. Realistically, you can only make educated guesses, based on analysing data, conducting surveys and studying existing research.

When policies deliver unintended consequences, Danielle says, it’s often because economists have failed to properly understand the incentive structures.

Danielle loves her job, because she loves using economics to drive positive change. These days, given her executive leadership role, she spends little time ‘on the tools’; instead, her job mainly consists of management and public advocacy – giving speeches and meeting with stakeholders.

I really enjoy thought-provoking discussions, which is why I was incentivised to meet Danielle. An unintended consequence of our meeting was that, for the first time ever, I got to eat carrot and potato soup, which was on special at the cafe where we had lunch.