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What is this website about?
What do people who study economics learn? And what do they not learn? In what ways do they learn to see the world, what do they learn in terms of theory and what do they learn about the real-world economy? Additionally, the website gives an overview of resources that can help renew economics education.
Why is economics education relevant?
Since economists play such a central role in our society, it is vital that we educate them well. This has caused a lot of debate in recent years, about the quality and content of our economics teaching.
Unfortunately, that debate is often based on anecdotes and personal experiences, rather than a broadly shared basis of facts. This causes a lot of miscommunication. By creating reliable data on the content and teaching methods of economics programs, we hope to bring this debate to a higher level. And by providing an overview of new teaching, reading and other materials, we hope to give both students and academics more tools to meet todays challenges.
Unfortunately, that debate is often based on anecdotes and personal experiences, rather than a broadly shared basis of facts. This causes a lot of miscommunication. By creating reliable data on the content and teaching methods of economics programs, we hope to bring this debate to a higher level. And by providing an overview of new teaching, reading and other materials, we hope to give both students and academics more tools to meet todays challenges.
How reliable are these studies?
There's no such thing as 100% scientific reliability. But as far as we know the reports gathered on this website are the most rigorous and detailed attempts to map the content of economics programs so far. Each of the reports contains a detailed methodology section.
Why do people think economics education has to change?
Questions and debate about how to study economics are as old as the discipline itself. Since the global financial crisis of 2008, there have, however, been a growing number of voices arguing that economics education is often not meeting the needs of today. On the one hand, people point out that many (old and new) theoretical insights and empirical findings are frequiently not taught. On the other hand, many argue that economics education does insufficiently prepare students for their future careers, personal lives and the societal challenges that they will face. For both of these reasons a growing number of people are thus calling for and working on updating and renewing economics education at high schools, universities, professional trainings and elsewhere.
Who runs this website?
The website is maintained by the Centre for Economy Studies, which is hosted by the Dutch foundation Our New Economy and a founding member of the global New Economics Education Network.
What is the New Economics Education Network (NEEN)?
NEEN is a diverse network of organisations working on renewing economics education, each organisation with its own strategy, approach and capabilities. Some organisations are mainly based around student groups, others around academic research, and yet others work on building and promoting teaching materials. NEENs members include the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), Rethinking Economics, the Economics in Context Initiative, Exploring Economics, the School of Political Economy and the Centre for Economy Studies.