The US president “had no plan, no scheme, no constructive ideas whatever”, according to one of the world’s most influential economists. He was “in many respects, perhaps inevitably, ill-informed”. He was “slow-minded and bewildered”, and failed to remedy these defects by seeking advice. He gathered around him businessmen, “inexperienced in public affairs” and “only called […] … learn more→

Economic thinking governs much of our world. But the discipline’s teaching is stuck in the past. Centred around antiquated 19th-century models built on Newtonian physics, economics treats humans as atomic particles, rather than as social beings. While academic research often manages to transcend this simplicity, undergraduate education does not – and the influence of these simplified ideas is […] … learn more→

Faced with the challenges of ecological transition, social inequality or tax justice, there are many debates about the urgency of integrating these issues in training in finance and economics. Many academics today are protesting against the model of financialization, the obsolescence of theories implying a rationality of the “homo economicus”, while insisting on the role of […] … learn more→

The economy, a matter too abstract? If it permeates their daily lives, from the evolution of prices at the local supermarket to the opening of a bank account, through the search for a summer job, the economy raises many a priori in students. Even in business schools, though frequented by young people interested in principle by the […] … learn more→

I know I pick on Women’s Studies often; I have many issues with this particular field of “study,” namely that it isn’t one. There’s another field that sure looks like it should be a legitimate academic topic, which nevertheless bears even more claim to absolute scorn: economics. It isn’t simply because economics departments succumb to […] … learn more→

Economics is a discipline that ought, at its best, to explain the world and its complexities. Unlike physics, it is not an exact science. Due to its nature as a social sciences, lecturers must assist students to understand the complex relationships between companies, governments, consumers and diverse stakeholders. They also need to guide their students […] … learn more→

The relative neglect of higher education investment in political debate is a missed opportunity. The economic evidence is that not only does higher education build the economy’s skills and knowledge, but that it pays for itself many times over. On average, university training in Australia has paid a rate of return of around 14-15% according […] … learn more→