Economics for the 21st century

Economics is perhaps the only science that its own students protest against. Why do they say that contemporary economics is in crisis and that it is inadequate to tackle the problems of the 21st century, be it the environmental crises or inequality? In this course, we will take a fresh look at old topics in economics as well as those that you won’t find in traditional textbooks. We will uncover the entrenched mischiefs of contemporary economics inherited from the last century. And we will ask what economics might look like today and in the future. The course draws on heterodox strands of economics, particularly social and ecological economics.

We will draw, discuss, read, explore. No prior knowledge is required for the course.

1/ What is the economy? And what is invisible to economics? How does it relate to care or pollution?
2/ What is GDP, efficiency, utility? And what about it?
3/ How does economics approach inequalities? Does everyone’s voice carry equal weight?
4/ How has the world changed and how has economics changed, from Plato to today? And what is entropy?
5/ And where do we go from here? What do doughnuts and snails have to do with it?

Kristina Zindulková

Kristina is interested in the relationship between economics and sustainability. She started this journey at Masaryk University studying economics and environmental studies, continued with a program in socio-ecological economics in Vienna at WU and then in Paris at the Sorbonne. She works as an analyst in AMO climate research team, where she focuses on climate change mitigation and its economic impacts, energy poverty and community energy. She has experience in research, teaching at university or working at the ministry. In her spare time, she learns about transformative education and is part of the Czech climate movement. She enjoys participating in field research on water retention or forest resilience in the Czech, Slovak or Bosnian mountains, and if not, she goes there anyway, whatever the season.

Turnus E

AI and Particle Physics

Oliver Matonoha

Contemporary City Planning

Soňa Ondrejčáková

Economics for the 21st century

Kristina Zindulková

Imagining For a Better Future

Žofie Hobzíková

Law and Climate

David Chytil

Medical Science in the 21. century

Václav Melenovský

Music: From Science to Creative Process

Laura Prachárová

Nationalism Good, Bad and Ugly

Hubert Otevřel

Sleep

Anežka Zemanová

The Arab Middle East

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