In 1960 Sir John Crawford moved from heading the new Commonwealth Department of Trade to the Australian National University, becoming the Director of the Research School of Pacific Studies. Among his priorities was to build a research program in economics focussed particularly on issue of development. The field was then in a protean state in Australia, and reflected a range of issues, from the disciplines place within Cold War paradigms through to questions of Australia’s own standing as a ‘mid-way country’, having more in common with developing than developed countries, and needing to reappraise its regional and international role accordingly. In navigating these questions, as Crawford put it, the choices ‘were almost always difficult and often cruel’. This paper will assess the ways in which, and the influence with which, he navigated these choices.