Has the way universities teach economics changed enough?

The apparent failure of economists to predict, let alone prevent, the 2008 financial crisis has led to accusations that conventional economic teaching cannot adequately explain the complex dynamics and risks of modern economies. Now a growing number of UK universities are implementing changes to adapt their degrees to a ‘post-crisis’ world, writes Daniel Cullen for the Guardian.

Lecturer Alan Fernihough says the economic history module added to the course at Queen’s University Belfast “gives students a long-run perspective on economic conditions and helps contextualise the recent state of the global economy”.

A new first-year module at Royal Holloway, University of London, covers non-market voices in economics; growth from an historical perspective; difficult allocations for markets to handle; and behavioural economics. Professor Jeff Frank says he and his colleagues saw a “market opportunity” to make changes to the course. “Students realised that the dry-as-a-bone economics they were being taught couldn’t deal with the complexities of economic issues,” Frank says.
Full report on the Guardian site