Economics: the Profession and the Public

Date: 5th May 2017

Venue: HM Treasury

This half-day symposium was organised by the Economics Network with the support of the Government Economic Service, Royal Economic Society and Scottish Economic Society. It brought together economists from academia, the media and government to discuss the communication of economics with the general public.

In particular, the event aimed to explore the public's understanding of economics and how economic literacy might be improved. In addition, it considered the relationship between economists and the media (this may include news media, documentary media, blogs, social media and websites).

ING-Economics Network Survey of public understanding of economics

At the symposium, Professor Alvin Birdi, Director of the Economics Network, presented some of the findings from our recent survey into public understanding of economics. Access the press release and links to the full report.

Programme

The programme is available to download.

Read/hear about the survey

• Storify of the #UnderstandingEcon tweets
• Event Report, Alvin Birdi, Director, Economics Network
• 'Forecasts and favour' blog piece, Ian McMaster, Business Spotlight
• 'Economists have lost the public’s trust by meddling in politics', Paul Ormerod, City AM
• Interview with Alvin Birdi, BBC Today Programme (19 mins 45 sec)
• 'Do you feel you know enough about economics?', ING eZonomics
• Economics: the profession and the public, Communicating Economics
• 'Everyday economics', Speech by Andrew Haldane, Bank of England
• 'Economic Literacy and trust in economics', Presentation at University College Dublin Conference on Trust, Expert Opinion and Policy
• 'Doing economics differently', Rethinking Economics and Economy
• 'The case for economic literacy for everyone', Economy