A new way of teaching economics, developed in conjunction with INET Oxford, is being launched at universities around the world.

The Economy, a new online introduction to the field, is produced by the CORE Project (Curriculum Open access Resources in Economics) - a group of more than 20 leading economists from around the world - and coordinated by Wendy Carlin, Professor of Economics at University College London, and Visiting Professor at The Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. The Project, which launched in November 2013 at HM Treasury, is funded by the Institute for New Economics Thinking in New York and part of INET Oxford.

The course is part of a worldwide beta test of The Economy, which will – the course materials say – teach economics 'as if the last 30 years had happened'. The course is based on an ebook, the beta version of which is now available to anyone for free online at www.core-econ.org.

The Economy combines text with pop-up questions to track learning and spark discussion as well as videos of Economists in Action. Users can click on an Einstein pop-up for help with difficult concepts. Models and data come to life with interactive diagrams. Though the project has not been advertised and is barely launched it already has almost 4,000 registered users.

"Economists in universities and central banks were found wanting when the financial crisis hit. Students from Manchester to Santiago Chile demanded courses that helped them understand and engage with the big questions they faced – not only financial crisis, but rising inequality and environmental degradation."
Professor Wendy Carlin

The course is being piloted at a number of institutions, including University College London, Columbia University, the University of Sydney, and the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

To access the course materials yourself and to find out more about The CORE Project, visit www.core-econ.org and watch the short video on how to register.