Dossier: "25 years of Economics and Business Studies at the UOC: reflections on the future" coordinated by María Jesús Martínez Argüelles and Joan Miquel Gomis LópezISSUE 17 (MARCH 2022)
ANALYSTS, OPINION HOLDERS OR SEERS?

Economists in the mirror

Abstract

In the last twenty-five years – from 1996 to 2021 – a series of actions have marked the evolution of the economy: from transformations linked to new information and communication technologies to the Covid-19 pandemic, among other things, through to the financial and economic crisis of the second half of the first decade of the 21st century. In this article, we look at the impact of events in the last twenty-five years on economics teaching, whether this is evolving alongside the economic reality or not, what has given rise to a mismatch between economics and the social and economic reality. To analyze this, in the first section, we will tackle the social mission of the “economist” in the sense of being teachers of highly diverse collectives, and in the second section, we will reflect on the evolution of economics teaching at University. The analysis leads us to conclude that, although economics teaching has varied over time, it has not undergone substantial change in recent decades. The lack of diversity of thinking in economics curricula joins forces with a lack of diversity among prominent thinkers and professionals to often translate into an incomplete view explaining the complex economic reality and an interaction with other disciplines, particularly social sciences.

social sciences;  economics;  teaching of economics;  economic thinking;  pluralism;  politics;  rethinking economics;  society;  university;  no poverty;  good health and well-being;  quality education;  industry, innovation and infrastructure; 

ODS

ODS ODS 1 ODS 3 ODS 4 ODS 9

About the authors