Preview: Economics for Everyone Conference 2016

The Post Crash Economics Society at the University of Manchester is holding a weekend-long conference entitled ‘Economics for Everyone’ from 16th-17th April at University Place, with some of the world’s leading economists.

The conference is open to the public, students and economists, with a selection of events directed at a range of different levels of economic understanding. The event aims to highlight Ha Joon Chang’s belief that “Economics is too important to be left to the experts”.

On their website the organisers claim: “the conference isn’t a typical conference where you go along to watch some experts speak, ask a question, and go home. We have designed events to be interactive, more like a conversation than a lecture. We want to create a forum which is accessible to everyone, that starts conversations between people who would never normally meet and most importantly which is fun and stimulating.”

They add that they believe all UK citizens  should “have a basic knowledge of economics and the confidence to use it both as a requirement for democracy to function effectively and for our own wellbeing. Understanding a bit about economics and fostering a civil society in which it is vigorously discussed can help us feel more in control of our lives”.

The events will create spaces where attendees will be able to discuss and share experiences of the economy, creating a forum which is accessible to everybody. The aim is to spark conversations between people who would not normally come across each other.

This is the second year of the conference, with last year’s according to organisers being a great success that “helped to educate the public” and they “want to continue with that good work.”

There will be over twenty events over the weekend, organised into six different themes: debt, inequality, the EU, economic history, emerging markets and devolution.

Speakers will include: Steve Keen, Vicky Pryce, Richard Wilkinson, Frances Coppla, Engelbert Stockhammer and Andrew Lilico. These speakers will be involved in a range of lectures, discussions and workshops about the issues they believe matter to you.

The conference also aims to challenge the traditional lecturer/audience divide and the organisers want to focus on audience participation, encouraging them to contribute, challenge and debate the different views presented.

Tickets will be £7/8 for a day ticket and £12/14 for the whole weekend, including lunch. If you are unable to pay for a ticket, the organisers encourage you to get in touch with them via email and social media as they “want this conference to be accessible to everyone”.

For more information visit the conference website: boombustboombust.com 

And for tickets go to: www.eventbrite.com/e/ economics-for-everyone- conference-2016-tickets- 21785878148