Is It Time To Rethink Economics In A More Human Light?

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Headlines:

• "World's richest 10% own more than 90% of global wealth, report reveals" (The Guardian) - A staggering statistic that highlights the need for economic reform. • "Universal Basic Income pilot in Finland shows promise, but challenges remain" (BBC News) - A promising experiment in a new approach to addressing poverty. • "New study finds that capitalism is bad for the environment" (The New Republic) - A surprising finding that challenges the conventional wisdom. • "Global poverty rates decline, but income inequality ___ a concern" (Al Jazeera) - A mixed bag of progress and persistence. • "US billionaires saw $1. 3 trillion in gains in 2020... amid rising income inequality" (CNBC) - A stark contrast between the haves and have-nots. • "India's surprise decision to slash corporate tax rate sparks debate" (The Financial Times) - A bold move that could have far-reaching consequences. • "Europe's carbon prices are set to rise... but won't be enough to meet climate goals" (The

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As part of our Marketplace Economic Pulse series , we examine the economy from a range of perspectives.

Today, we hear from Clara Mattei, a professor of economics at the University of Tulsa In Oklahoma and director of the newly established Center for Heterodox Economics — which aims to reimagine how we measure economic progress, prioritizing people's experiences.

David Brancaccio: ⁘Heterodox⁘ — I had to look it up again — [it means] ⁘unorthodox.⁘ What's the mistake orthodox approaches to economics we're making that needs new thinking from your team?

Clara Mattei: It is absolutely timely to rethink economics in a broader, pluralist way, so that we're not stuck in abstract and narrow methods that ultimately hide rather than explain what happens in the real world.

Brancaccio: One remedy for abstraction is to bring it down to earth and put people into the equation. Is there a greater focus on the human experience and the type of work that your center wants to do?

Mattei: This is exactly the point. People feel the economic injustices on their own skins. But there's no tools to understand these, because the type of economics we're exposed to operates to hide these problems. So the Center is trying to say, if we want to be academics and intellectuals and grow a generation of students that can really tackle issues for people, we need a different approach to economics. The agenda of economics has to be inspired by what people feel and live, and so people can be empowered by these tools in order to potentially participate for a better economic system.

Brancaccio: Professor Mattei, I don't want to be a spoilsport, but I do have to raise this issue, which is, there was a lot of talk like this, in 2009 in 2010 after the great financial collapse — that mainstream economics didn't see it coming, that mainstream economics needs new tools — and yet, here we are all these years later, and you're forced to innovate again in this space. Do you think it'll stick this time?