Unlearning Economics | Reality Roundtable #3
What we teach our 18-22 year olds around the world matters - a great deal. Today, I’m joined by Jon Erickson, Josh Farley, Steve Keen, and Kate Raworth - all of whom are leading thinkers and educators in the field of heterodox economics - to discuss the fundamental aspects of what conventional economics gets wrong and how it could be improved in our education system.
Jon Erickson is the David Blittersdorf Professor of Sustainability Science & Policy at the University of Vermont. He has published widely on energy and climate change policy, land conservation, watershed planning, environmental public health, and the theory and practice of ecological economics. He advised presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on economics and energy issues.
Joshua Farley is an ecological economist and Professor in Community Development & Applied Economics and Public Administration at the University of Vermont. He is the President of the International Society for Ecological Economics.
Steve Keen is an economist, author of Debunking Economics and The New Economics: A Manifesto. He is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategy, Resilience, and Security at University College in London.
Kate Raworth is the creator of the Doughnut of social and planetary boundaries, and co-founder of Doughnut Economics Action Lab, based on her best-selling book Doughnut Economics: 7 Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist. Kate is a Senior Associate at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute, where she teaches on the Masters in Environmental Change and Management.
What basic assumptions about humans have led to a misunderstanding of the average person’s decision making? What areas has economics turned a blindspot to as the foundation of our economic systems? Who is finding the models and systems that economists have created useful - and how does economics as a discipline need to change in the face of a lower energy future?
In case you missed it…
In the fourth and final part of this Frankly mini-series, I suggest responses that reside in the intersection of the ‘Four Horsemen of the 2020s’ and the ongoing/accelerating risks to Earth's ecosystems, and the web of life. What can we do? How can pro-future thinkers reconcile ‘Just Stopping Oil’ when the Superorganism dynamic of the global economy will continue trying hard to ‘Keep Pumping Oil’? Here I briefly outline 10 ‘guideposts’ that could benefit both post-growth human economies as well as protecting Earth’s biodiversity.
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This roundtable is jam-packed with info challenging the standard model of Econ 101. Unfortunately IMO several major tech glitches interfere with smooth transitions which could assist the viewer with readily processing such challenges. Nate, I hope you’re staff will be able to rectify these glitches and that you’ll alert your followers when they’ve been addressed. Thanks!