How to Teach Economics
Our lead article today is from Corporate Knights, a Canadian media company that promotes sustainability. The article laments the absence of a sustainability-based business school and the damage wreaked on Canadian companies as they become increasingly run by MBA-trained CEOs. Thinking short-term, squeezing labor, skimping on research, skirting ethical standards with fraught legal rationalizations—all these destructive behaviors are taught at business school as ways to improve the bottom line.
Our friends at Corporate Knights may be unaware that there is one business school in North America that is teaching business differently—the MBA in Sustainability at Bard College. That program is now in its 13th year and has graduated more than 300 MBAs. I started teaching there in 2016 with a class called “Sustaining Mission,” which provides an overview of tools like ownership, governance, and measurement that can improve the mission-performance of a business. Five years ago, the position for teaching introductory economics opened up, and I jumped at it.
Much of what’s wrong with business today, and MBA-led business behavior, really can be traced to economics. Core courses are taught as perfectly logical constructs built on unquestioned assumptions. Students are expected to solve problem sets, often with high-level calculus. The suspect nature of the foundational assumptions—natural resources are unlimited, the best goal for a firm is profit maximization, greed is good, to name just a few—is never called into question.
Many students are revolted by these courses. And the superstars become social monsters.
I decided to fundamentally reorganize the structure of the MBA’s core economics course. Yes, I would teach all the basic concepts, and in fact, my students spend one semester learning the entirety of Paul Krugman’s 1,000-page introductory textbook. (Most schools go through the book in two classes, micro and macro, over two semesters.) And to that I add concepts from labor economics, globalization, and localization.
That, however, is only one-third of the class. Another third is applying the material to contemporary society. My lectures are filled with history and politics. Every student is also required to subscribe to a financial periodical, like The Wall Street Journal or The Economist. And in every class, one student (sometimes more) presents an article connecting the week’s topic to something in the world. The topic of banking might connect to an article on banks currently failing in the country. Or the topic of trade might lead to an analysis of Trump’s tariff wars.
The final third of the course is reserved for critique. I have students read Kate Raworth’s Donut Economics for a point-by-point rebuttal of the assumptions on which the field is built. And throughout the class, I call out assumptions and push students to examine them. Are they realistic? Will they lead to a better society? Do they support mission-oriented business?
How can I possibly cover so much material in one semester? I have all but banished the math. Yes, there are a few problem sets, but they almost entirely focus on logic and critical thinking. I have students learn high-level concepts, but insist that they connect them to the world around them and always question their moral weight.
The results for the nearly 200 students I’ve taught have been stunning: an unexpected love for economics and a surprising addiction to economics news. Most importantly, they are equipped to create the enterprises other business schools ignore: community investment funds (that you read about in these pages), cutting-edge solar utilities, and socially responsible franchises. Last year, one of the students helped introduce a bill into the Rhode Island state legislature to accelerate the conversion of legacy businesses into worker-owned cooperatives.
If you know any talented people interested in this kind of training—we have students of all ages—please let them know about the program. You can find more information here.
Our paying subscribers will find other stories of interest as well:
Why Opportunity Zones have proven to be a bonanza for deep-pocket investors and developers, and a disaster for the distressed communities they were designed to help.
How President Trump is using the current government shutdown as an excuse to dismantle the Community Development Investment Fund Program, which has long supported local business development and community banking in distressed communities and enjoyed wide bipartisan support.
And two perspectives on what an amazing range of speakers presented at the recent Neighborhood Economics conference in Chicago.
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The National Coalition for Community Capital (NC3) is dedicated to educating, advocating, and activating community capital and serves as MSJ’s fiscal sponsor. Thank you for being a part of a growing movement! Contact NC3 for support in integrating local investing in your work: info@nc3now.org.
NC3 UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
From Minneapolis to virtual classrooms, NC3 is deepening its reach in the community capital ecosystem. Earlier this month, CEO Chris Miller presented at the Cooperative Professionals Guild Conference in Minneapolis, leading sessions on Diversified Community Investment Funds and Aligned CIF, and joined the Policy & Legislative Panel. His sessions helped bridge cooperative finance and the growing role of community investment funds and investment crowdfunding in building shared-ownership economies.
As we continue to educate, advocate, and activate community capital across the country, we’re also gearing up for our upcoming ComCap Legal Training Series (November 4-18), a five-part virtual series designed to equip fund leaders and advisors with practical, legally grounded strategies for building community investment funds. Registration is still open for those interested in joining by clicking this link here. In addition, our Fall Community Investment Fund (CIF) webinar will spotlight emerging CIFS from our Accelerator Program participants and discuss the creative ways they’re fueling equitable local economies.
