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1211 results

An article in the New York Times from early 2025 suggests that the political influence of mainstream economics is declining. While economists have been highly influential in supporting and shaping free-market policies in recent decades, their expertise has become less relevant during intensified economic crises that necessitate state interventions.
2025
Level: beginner
The Strange Non-Death of Mainstream Economics
Why has heterodox economics not been more successful in making inroads into the mainstream? And why has “pluralist economics,” the most prominent alternative paradigm to mainstream economics, not been more successful in changing the curriculum?
2025
Level: advanced
The Project of Pluralism
Maria Kader provides an overview of the ECB's crisis policies in recent years. She outlines the measures taken, their effects, and their shortcomings.
2024
Level: beginner
The European Central Bank in a State of Crisis: Policies, Effects and Downsides
This paper presents an overview of different models which explain financial crises, with the aim of understanding economic developments during and possibly after the Great Recession. In the first part approaches based on efficient markets and rational expectations hypotheses are analyzed, which however do not give any explanation for the occurrence of financial crises and thus cannot suggest any remedies for the present situation. A broad range of theoretical approaches analyzing financial crises from a medium term perspective is then discussed. Within this group we focused on the insights of Marx, Schumpeter, Wicksell, Hayek, Fisher, Keynes, Minsky, and Kindleberger. Subsequently the contributions of the Regulation School, the approach of Social Structures of Accumulation and Post-Keynesian approach, which focus on long-term developments and regime shifts in capitalist development, are presented. International approaches to finance and financial crises are integrated into the analyses. We address the issue of relevance of all these theories for the present crisis and draw some policy implications. The paper has the aim to find out to which extent the different approaches are able to explain the Great Recession, what visions they develop about future development of capitalism and to which extent these different approaches can be synthesized.
2015
Level: advanced
Theories of finance and financial crisis: Lessons for the Great Recession
Podcast series with six 12-minute parts introducing the the values and ideas behind our neoliberal economic system: where it came from, how it spread, and how we could do things differently.
2019
Level: beginner
Beginner’s Guide to Neoliberalism
Professor Joseph Aldy from Harvard Kennedy School gives us some insights about how economics can set the balance between policymakers, scientists, employers and citizens.
2020
Level: beginner
Can Economics save the Environment?
"Change the system, not the climate" is a common demand in the climate movement. But what kind of system do we want?
2023
Level: beginner
Outgrow the System
Are there any limits to government spending? In times of war, particularly? And what about the aftermath of such special times when treasuries seemingly feel unshackled from any rules? And are those times really any special? That is what this paper is about.
2019
Level: advanced
Modern Money and the War Treasury
This paper attempts to clarify how the European economic crisis from 2007 onwards can be understood from the perspective of a Marxian monetary theory of value that emphasizes intrinsic, structural flaws regarding capitalist reproduction. Chapter two provides an empirical description of the European economic crisis, which to some extent already reflects the structural theoretical framework presented in chapter three. Regarding the theoretical framework Michael Heinrich's interpretation of 'the' Marxian monetary theory of value will be presented. Heinrich identifies connections between production and realization, between profit and interest rate as well as between industrial and fictitious capital, which represent contradictory tendencies for which capitalism does not have simple balancing processes. In the context of a discussion of 'structural logical aspects' of Marx's Critique of the Political Economy, explanatory deficits of Heinrich's approach are analyzed. In the following, it is argued that Fred Moseley's view of these 'structural logical aspects' allows empirical 'applications' of Marxian monetary theories of value. It is concluded that a Marxian monetary theory of value, with the characteristics of expansive capital accumulation and its limitations, facilitates a structural analysis of the European economic crisis from 2007 onwards. In this line of argument, expansive production patterns are expressed, among other things, in global restructuring processes, while consumption limitations are mitigated by expansive financial markets and shifts in ex-port destinations.
2019
Level: expert
The European economic crisis from 2007 onwards in the context of a global crisis of over-production of capital - a Marxian monetary theory of value interpretation
Die Volkswirtschafts-Studierenden von heute sind die Entscheidungsträger*innen und Berater*innen von morgen. Und genau diese Studierenden äußern, wie auch andere, schon länger Kritik an der ökonomischen Lehre.
2025
Level: beginner
Bereitet die Volkswirtschaftslehre auf das 21. Jahrhundert vor?
The article examines how, in the context of multiple contemporary crises—financial, ecological, and social—interest in alternative economic models such as democratic economic planning has resurged. It outlines historical debates on the feasibility of planning versus markets, discusses contemporary approaches to democratic, digitally supported, and ecologically oriented planning, and identifies research gaps, including social reproduction and Global South perspectives.
Level: beginner
Rethinking Economic Planning
How can we shape urban development towards sustainable and prosperous futures This course will explore sustainable cities as engines for greening the economy We place cities in the context of sustainable urban transformation and climate change Sustainable urban transformation refers to structural transformation processes multi dimensional and radical change that …
Level: beginner
Greening the Economy: Sustainable Cities
In this paper the main developments in post-Keynesian macroeconomics since the mid- 1990s will be reviewed. For this purpose the main differences between heterodox economics in general, including post-Keynesian economics, and orthodox economics will be reiterated and an overview over the strands of post-Keynesian economics, their commonalities and developments since the 1930s will be outlined. This will provide the grounds for touching upon three important areas of development and progress of post-Keynesian macroeconomics since the mid-1990s: first, the integration of distribution issues and distributional conflict into short- and long-run macroeconomics, both in theoretical and in empirical/applied works; second, the integrated analysis of money, finance and macroeconomics and its application to changing institutional and historical circumstances, like the process of financialisation; and third, the development of full-blown macroeconomic models, providing alternatives to the mainstream 'New Consensus Model' (NCM), and allowing to derive a full macroeconomic policy mix as a more convincing alternative to the one implied and proposed by the mainstream NCM, which has desperately failed in the face of the recent crises.
2012
Level: advanced
Post-Keynesian macroeconomics since the mid-1990s: Main developments
Dr. Katherine Trebeck explains some reasons why we should believe the future of the economy should be a wellbeing economy.
2020
Level: beginner
Why the Future Economy has to be a Wellbeing Economy
This is a hands on four chapter course to learn how to better understand and act when faced with complex situations By the end of the course students will be able to take a story from the news describe what makes the situation complex and identify opportunities for effective action …
Level: beginner
Thinking Complexity
This course is an introduction to the economic theories of financial crises It focuses on amplification mechanisms that exacerbate crises such as leverage fire sales bank runs interconnections and complexity It also analyzes the different perspectives on the origins of crises such as mistaken beliefs and moral hazard and discusses …
Level: beginner
Financial Crises
Ever wondered why some countries are rich and others poor Or why some people believe hard work results in upward mobility and others don t To answer these questions you need to see the world sociologically In this introductory sociology course we will explore the concerns of an interconnected global …
Level: beginner
Global Sociology
The mandate of central banks has seemed clear for decades : keep inflation low. Nevertheless borders between monetary, financial and economic policy have been blurry even before the pandemic.. Faced with the challenges of the climate crisis, slow growth, unemployment and inequality, does the financial and monetary system need a new constitutional purpose.
2020
Level: beginner
Beyond Price Stability
Exploring Economics, an open-access e-learning platform, giving you the opportunity to discover & study a variety of economic theories, topics, and methods.
2017
Level: advanced
Socialist alternatives to capitalism II: Vienna to Santa Fe
Central banking is anything but clear-cut. As this webinar with Benjamin Braun demonstrates, the standard view of central banks as independent public entities that govern financial markets and "print" money is at least partially misleading.
2020
Level: beginner
Central banking, Finance and Power
How did the coronavirus almost bring down the Global Financial System? What effects does monetary policy have on inequality? What role do Central Banks have in the social-ecological transformation? How could Central Banks tackle climate change? What is Central Bank Digital Currency?
2021
Level: advanced
Next Generation Central Banking
Use economic models to learn how prices and markets benefit society in the face of scarcity and then apply those models to analyze policy Jonathan Gruber edX Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Level: advanced
Microeconomics
Has neoliberalism destroyed gender equality Advocate author and broadcaster Beatrix Campbell examines the emergence of a new model of patriarchy and proposes solutions Beatrix Campbell iai
Level: beginner
End of Equality
Source image UMassEconomics Youtbe channel Stephen Resnick UMassEconomics University of Massachusetts Amherst
Level: beginner
Marxian Economics Lectures
The resource map contains links to a collection of resources related to the circular economy, which include videos, presentations, graphics, business case studies and articles. Many of the resources were created by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, others are given credit where due.
Level: beginner
Circular economy resources map
This short video visualizes the destabilizing effects financial markets can have on food prices, based on a paper by Jayati Ghosh. It introduces and explains the idea of future contracts and how those are used to speculate with basic food stuffs. After establishing the concepts, the video sketches out how the increase in those practices resulted in a substantial rise and later collapse of food prices around 2008 with severe consequences for many developing countries and their people.
2021
Level: beginner
Food and Finance
This lecture briefly discusses historic understandings of the limits to infinite economic growth on a finite planet (from John Stuart Mill to Marx). Taking a ecological economics perspective it discusses the metabolism of the economy, the economy as a subsystem of the environment, biophysical limits to growth, and sustainable economic scales.
2021
Level: beginner
Ecological Limits to Growth
How should we discuss welfare when understanding the role of growth and the viability of Growth-led development? One option is to look at subjective happiness. This provides an anti-materialistic view which may superficially appear more compatible with significant reductions in consumption in order to remain within safe ecological limits.
2021
Level: beginner
Degrowth, Happiness and and wellbeing
Source image GC Videography Fellows Youtube channel David Harvey davidharvey org City University of New York
Level: advanced
Marx and Capital: The Concept, The Book, The History
Is our knowledge of the world essentially rational What does it mean to be burdened with the gift of rationality Philosopher Corine Besson considers the nature of humanity s defining trait Corine Besson iai University of Sussex
Level: beginner
Knowledge and Rationality
One hundred years ago the idea of 'the economy' didn't exist. Now, improving the economy has come to be seen as perhaps the most important task facing modern societies. Politics and policymaking are conducted in the language of economics and economic logic shapes how political issues are thought about and addressed.
2017
Level: advanced
The Econocracy
Behavioural economics deals with observing behaviour and economic decision making behaviour.
Behavioral Economics

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