Making Economics Public

Vicki Macknight works in the Centre for Science Communication at the University of Otago. Her work has been published in a range of journals. She is the author of Imagining Classrooms: Stories of Children, Teaching and Ethnography (2016).Fabien Medvecky is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Science Communication at the University of Otago. Armed with graduate degrees in Philosophy and Economics, he studies the relationship between knowledge and society and how social interactions shape, create and direct what counts as knowledge. Dr Medvecky is especially interested in areas that are challenging and uncomfortable, from ethical and justice issues in communicating information to questions over contentious or controversial science and technologies (gene tech, alternative medicine, etc.). He also has a long-running interest in how economics (the discipline, not the economy) is made public and how that interacts with other forms of knowledge and expertise.

“The movement for better public engagement with science often focuses on the natural sciences. Macknight and Medvecky have brought together authors who push us to the harder problem: public engagement with SOCIAL sciences. Knowing about economics is probably more fundamental to being an informed and engaged citizen than knowing about physics or biology. This important book opens new opportunities for research and practice in how publics engage with economics.”Bruce Lewenstein, Professor of Science Communication, Departments of Communication and of Science & Technology Studies, Cornell University“The stakes are high when it comes to the public discussion of economics. The subject is technical – close to a science – which means setting out an economic decision in a simple and clear way can be hard. But unlike the sciences, economics is hard-wired into policy decisions that affect all of us, every day. Making Economics Public shows the huge risks that result – from poorly understood policies to outright dishonesty – and what we must do about it. Each author contributes to establishing the central problem: while we constantly chew over the economy – markets, prices, unemployment – in public debate, discussion of the underlying economics that drive these outcomes is scant. Making Economics Public is a bold step towards rectifying this problem, packed with examples of how and why public discourse can be so thin, shallow and opaque, and what can be done about it. The book should be a mandatory read for policy economists and will be an enlightening read for anyone seeking a better understanding of the forces shaping our lives.”Richard Davies, Professor of the Public Understanding of Economics, University of Bristol

• Introduction: Why Make Economics Public? Vicki Macknight and Fabien Medvecky Section One Why Should We Make Economics More Public? 1. Towards a Political Economy of Public Understanding of Economics John Durant 2. Power and Economics Pierre Benz, Jens Maesse, Stephan Pühringer and Thierry Rossier 3. What Do People Know about Economics … and What Should They Know? Anna Killick Section Two How to Make Economics Public? 4. Public-Facing Economists Romesh Vaitilingam 5. How the Economy Museum Makes Economic Public Thomas Shepherd and Eva Johnston 6. The Networks of Economics: Economics About the Public Should Be for the Public The Rethinking Economics Team 7. More Talk, Less Chalk: Communicating Economics in the Modern Classroom Christopher L. Colvin Section Three Challenges in Communicating Economics 8. Knowing Economics with Your Phone Vicki Macknight 9. The Problem of Politics in Communicating Economics Kevin Albertson 10. Who Are the Economic Experts?: How Can One Tell? Carlo Martini 11. Ethical Considerations in Making Economics Public Joan Leach and Fabien Medvecky Section Four Economics in a Democratic World 12. Free Speech, Rhetoric, and a Free Economy Deirdre Nansen McCloskey