Catholic economist calls for revision of economics curriculums
November 3rd, 2014An economist who is also a Dominican nun welcomes the National Bank’s efforts to follow leading scholars and universities around the world who have realized the importance of replacing neoliberal dogmas in economics curriculum.
In Heti Válasz, Sarolta Laura Baritz calls for the way economics is taught at university level to be revised in order to equip young economists with the knowledge necessary to answer wider social challenges. She claims that university students around the world are becoming increasingly unsatisfied with economics curricula centred around neoclassical approaches. Baritz believes that since the outbreak of the economic crisis, students want to widen their disciplinary perspectives so that they can better engage with problems of inequality and environmental challenges which are left undiscussed by classical economic theories. Baritz quotes leading economists including Joseph Stiglitz and Andy Holland who have also argued that economics curricula should be more diverse and interdisciplinary in order to help students understand complex social phenomena and increase their social responsibility. Baritz remarks that top universities and research centres around the globe including George Soros’ Institute for New Economic Thinking have launched projects which aim at overcoming narrow disciplinary boundaries as well as neoliberal market dogmas. Economics, she writes, should be seen as a tool for advancing social values. Thus the economy should make human life better, rather than just producing profit, Baritz contends. In conclusion, she welcomes the National Bank’s decision to fund a new economics school. In August, National Bank chief György Matolcsy announced that the MNB would set up a 200 billion Forint endowment to fund new schools and research centres in order to create a new generation of economists who do not follow what Matolcsy called the “obsolete neoliberal doctrines” of economics.