The quote is from the international student call below. This is positive news, students who take the social science of economics more seriously than most of their teachers. I only copy the beginning of their Open Letter, you can read the rest here or by clicking on the links in the text below. The Press coverage of the student call is also encouraging.
Argentina - Australia - Austria - Brazil - Canada - Chile -
Denmark - France - Germany - India - Israel - Italy - Pakistan - Russia
- Slovenia- Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - United Kingdom - USA -
Uruguay
An international student call
for pluralism in economics
It is not only the world economy that is in crisis. The
teaching of economics is in crisis too, and this crisis has
consequences far beyond the university walls. What is taught shapes the
minds of the next generation of policymakers, and therefore shapes the
societies we live in. We, over 65 associations of economics students
from over 30 different countries, believe it is time to reconsider the
way economics is taught. We are dissatisfied with the dramatic narrowing
of the curriculum that has taken place over the last couple of decades.
This lack of intellectual diversity does not only restrain education
and research. It limits our ability to contend with the multidimensional
challenges of the 21st century - from financial stability, to food
security and climate change. The real world should be brought back into
the classroom, as well as debate and a pluralism of theories and
methods. Such change will help renew the discipline and ultimately
create a space in which solutions to society’s problems can be
generated.
United across borders, we call for a change of course. We
do not claim to have the perfect answer, but we have no doubt that
economics students will profit from exposure to different perspectives
and ideas. Pluralism will not only help to enrich teaching and
research and reinvigorate the discipline. More than this, pluralism
carries the promise of bringing economics back into the service of
society. Three forms of pluralism must be at the core of curricula: theoretical, methodological and interdisciplinary.
(...)
