Protesting Economic Education

March 18, 2003

Protesting Economic Education

In this essay, I cited Steven Pinker on the value of teaching economics, but I concluded with doubts as to whether "economic idiotarianism" could be eradicated entirely with education. Consider this story about the movement for alternative economics, including a student petition protesting Harvard's classic "Ec 10" introductory course. The story also mentions a forthcoming

basic-econ text that will include feminist and ecological points of view while questioning the assumptions of neoclassical econ

I think that exposure to alternative points of view is a good thing, as long as it cuts both ways.

For Discussion. How might women's studies and environmental science benefit from better understanding of economics?