The Institute for New Economic Thinking has an interesting post on the economics curriculum. They are sponsoring some thinking about how students are taught economics, and curriculum reform. The need for this has been clear to me since writing [amazon_link id=”0691143161″ target=”_blank” ]The Soulful Science[/amazon_link] a few years ago, as the work that the leading economists have been doing for some time is not reflected in the curriculum. The profession has shifted – as David Colander has also reported in his book, [amazon_link id=”0691138516″ target=”_blank” ]The Making of An Economist, Redux[/amazon_link] – but what the next generation is taught has not yet followed suit. I’ve been organising a conference on this issue, taking place at the Bank of England in February 2012, bringing together significant employers of graduate economists and academics to discuss what changes might be needed in UK universities.

Meanwhile, INET has started posting examples of courses academics are providing to show how they are innovating. One or two of them are simply ideological and while interesting would not serve students well for conventional jobs in consultancies or the government service. Susan Feiner’s ‘Critical Thinking about Economic Crises’ is one of these – great reading list, including Matt Taibbi’s excellent [amazon_link id=”0385529961″ target=”_blank” ]Griftopia[/amazon_link], but it isn’t going to move the mainstream of teaching. One of my former professors, Steve Marglin, opts for a few classics such as Schumpeter’s [amazon_link id=”189139651X” target=”_blank” ]Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy[/amazon_link] alongside [amazon_link id=”0538453699″ target=”_blank” ]Baumol and Blinder[/amazon_link] as a text book, his own [amazon_link id=”0674047222″ target=”_blank” ]The Dismal Science[/amazon_link], and a long list of articles on political issues of the day. The examples of the mainstream macro and micro courses largely stick to textbooks – one of those on the INET site has Greg Mankiw’s [amazon_link id=”0324203098″ target=”_blank” ]Principles[/amazon_link] as its textbook, despite the Harvard students’ objections to their prof, and David Colander’s [amazon_link id=”0070165580″ target=”_blank” ]Economics[/amazon_link] is popular too. Some familiar titles crop up as ‘fun’ reading – Heilbroner’s [amazon_link id=”0140290060″ target=”_blank” ]The Worldly Philosophers[/amazon_link], Tim Harford’s [amazon_link id=”0349119856″ target=”_blank” ]The Undercover Economist[/amazon_link].

However, these mainstream courses look pretty standard to me; not yet much evidence of decisive change. My hunch is that curriculum reform will be as much about the range of courses as the content of each, and that it will be easier to change microeconomics than macro teaching, but we’ll see what people say at the conference.