The rhetoric of positivism had a profound effect on the worldview and practice of economists in the middle of the last century. Though this influence has greatly diminished, it still may be found in the attitude of many economists towards the history of their discipline. This paper traces the...

The rhetoric of positivism had a profound effect on the worldview and practice of economists in the middle of the last century. Though this influence has greatly diminished, it still may be found in the attitude of many economists towards the history of their discipline. This paper traces the...

The Great Recession of 2007-2009 triggered a debate among commentators, economists and policymakers about the relevance of academic economics. We advocate the overhaul of undergraduate and postgraduate syllabuses starting with the adoption of the Bowles and Carlin proposals

Sixty years ago, Schumpeter's Presidential Address to the American Economic Association discussed the "pre-scientific vision" underlying the research of individual economists. This paper argues that a similar concept can be applied to different students studying economics. Resource students at a...

This paper describes a classroom exercise that introduces the Socialist Calculation Debate (SCD) to undergraduate economics students. The SCD concerns an issue that remains one of the most consequential of the 20th century - the belief in the superiority of socialism and central planning over...

Macroeconomics essentially discusses macroeconomic phenomena from the perspectives of various schools of economic thought, each of which takes different views on how macroeconomic agents make decisions and how the corresponding markets operate. Therefore, developing a clear, comprehensive...

I describe an assignment for a history of economic thought (HET) course, "The Most Interesting Economist in History," modeled off of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Students vote in head-to-head matchups between economic writers by era for whom they find to be more "interesting" and...

Shorter undergraduate studies, increasing specialization and the priority of applied research in Economics represent threats for the History of Economic Thought (HET) as an integral part of the training of young economists. There are mostly sociological arguments to reduce or eliminate HET...

In recent decades, there have been concerns within the economics profession about the narrowness in both graduate and undergraduate economics programs. These concerns have been based on the view that economic phenomena can be the subject of many modes of explanation, each based on a particular...

There is a great deal of interest in the Talmud today, especially in much of Asia. South Koreans, in particular, have developed a fascination with the Talmud and have made it part of their curriculum. Many Korean homes have a version of the Talmud and call it the “Light of Knowledge.” The...