Rethinking Economics ̽̽, a new club promoting diverse and open-minded approaches to teaching economics on campus, held its first event in the Davis Center Silver Maple Ballroom in late February 2023. The event brought together five professors with a diversity of economic thought across ̽̽ (̽̽) to discuss how to best address an array of society’s most pressing social and ecological crises.
The crowd-drawing event was attended by students, faculty, Deans, staff, and the public. The discussion prompted moments of disagreement among the economists with varying worldviews, providing a unique opportunity for attendees to learn through a moderated dialogue format.
“This is why we are having these dialogues, to be constructive and learn from each other’s point of view,” Rigo Melgar, club president and event moderator, said in response to one of the moments of disagreement. Melgar is a PhD candidate in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and a graduate fellow in the Gund Institute for Environment.
While disagreement did emerge, it was clear that the panelists shared common motives, that is, to solve the crises arising from the current economic system.
The panel discussed topics ranging from inequality to climate change and over a dozen students and members from the public prompted questions to the panelists related to housing, waste management, and resilience—giving attendees an opportunity to guide the conversation and learn about issues they cared about.
The event had five ̽̽ economists on the panel:
Dr. Stephanie Seguino, emerita feminist and post-Keynesian economist in the Economics Department and Gund Institute Affiliate — “human beings need to be able to provide for themselves and their families and loved ones with economic dignity and security in a way that is in good relationship with the planet.”
Dr. Jon D. Erickson, an ecological economist from the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and Gund Institute Fellow — “Are we keeping up with the lives and times of our citizens? Is our economics reflective of a society of 8 billion people or are we still stuck in a world where we only have one billion people and the goal is to mirror American lifestyle?”
Dr. Trisha Shrum, a behavioral and environmental economist from the Community Development and Applied Economics Department in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences — “think of climate policy as insuring against downside risks in the future. Instead of trying to balance costs and benefits of mitigation and adaptation, instead, how much should you invest to insure against these extreme risks?”
Dr. Donna Ramirez, an environmental economist from the Economics Department in the College of Arts and Sciences and a Gund Institute Affiliate — “Don’t shy away from the solutions that sometimes might be small or incremental and that you can do individually because we are trying to solve the world’s problems here, but before we can make these big systemic changes, we should not abandon the small ones.”
Dr. Josh Farley, an ecological economist from the Community Development and Applied Economics Department in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Rubenstein School and a Gund Institute Fellow — “When we are dealing with climate change, the decision maker can’t be the individual, it must be the collective. We need an economics that can deal with the collective nature of the challenges we face.”
Rethinking Economics ̽̽ club secretary Rubaina Anjum, ̽̽ PhD Candidate and Gund Graduate Fellow, joined club president Melgar in moderating the discussion.
“We want to foster diversity of economic thought among the ̽̽ community and beyond by enabling co-learning of diverse economic education to help us work towards well-being economies that are sustainable, just and efficient at sufficiently meeting people’s needs within planetary boundaries,” said Melgar in his introduction of the Rethinking Economics ̽̽ club at the beginning of the event.
Rethinking Economics ̽̽ is a USA chapter of the larger international organization . The group is a global network of students working to create awareness within and outside of universities about the diverse approaches to economic teaching and practice that exist beyond the mainstream micro and macro econ 101 courses.
The event was co-sponsored by Rethinking Economics International, Gund Institute for Environment, Rubenstein School Graduate Student Association, , , and the Leadership for the Ecozoic project.
To learn more about Rethinking Economics ̽̽, visit their page on . To contact Rethinking Economics ̽̽, including for future events, email uvm@rethinkingeconomics.org.
Watch the full Rethinking Economics ̽̽ Panel recording:
Rethinking Economics ̽̽ Chapter founders: Rigo Melgar, Dakota Walker.
Rethinking Economics ̽̽ GSS Club Founding Members: Rigo Melgar, Dakota Walker, Rubaina Anjun, Logan Solomon, Juliana Neira, Lizah Makombore, Katharyn Hassan, Amber Luce, Lucio Costa Proenca, and Danish Ansari.