![]() So here are seven ways in which I believe we can all start to think like 21st century economists:ġ. ![]() ![]() ![]() The insights that I drew out imply that the economic future will be fascinating, but wildly unlike the past, so long as we equip ourselves with the mindset needed to take it on. Spurred on by this question, I pushed aside my old economics textbooks and sought out the best emerging ideas that I could find, drawing on diverse schools of thought including complexity, ecological, feminist, behavioural and institutional economics, and set out to discover what happens when they all dance on the same page. What if we started economics with humanity’s goals for the 21st century, and then asked what economic mindset would give us half a chance of achieving them? In the process I realized the obvious: that you can’t walk away from economics because it frames the world we inhabit, so I decided to walk back towards it and flip it on its head. So I walked away from its theories and immersed myself in real-world economic challenges, from the villages of Zanzibar to the headquarters of the United Nations, and on to the campaign frontlines of Oxfam. ![]() But like many of today’s disillusioned students its disconnect from relevance and reality left me deeply frustrated. When I studied economics at university 25 years ago I believed it would empower me to help tackle humanity’s social and environmental challenges. ![]()
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