What is Economics for Everyone?
Economics for Everyone grew from the highly popular Economics for Everyone University of Chicago course taught by Steve Levitt and John List. Levitt and List created this course out of the desire to bring economic thinking to everyone. We are now taking this course and making it truly available for everyone.
Our Mission
The Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics is undertaking an educational initiative designed to reach large audiences, both in the United States and abroad. Building on the “Chicago Economics” model that has helped to define the University of Chicago’s culture of rigor, intellectual curiosity, and public-facing discussion of economic principles, we aim to cultivate a broader public understanding of the contemporary world through basic principles of economics.
This initiative has grown from “Economics for Everyone,” our popular undergraduate course, and we have adapted the original syllabus to produce educational materials to bring the power of economics to everyone. These materials range from our lessons focused on “big economic ideas” (without the math), quick informative lessons teaching the technical skills behind the big ideas, insights about current events and research, and more.
Our goal is to make the beauty and power of economic thinking available to everyone, and our endeavor is to take advantage of emerging forms of communication to disseminate economics education widely and to ignite the appreciation of the language of economics–and the reputation of Chicago economics–across the globe.
Key Ideas
- Economics is a powerful tool through which we can understand and analyze real world phenomena.
- Economics applies to all areas that society cares about, ranging from education and health, to politics and inequality, to name a few.
- The beauty and power of economic thinking is available to everyone, including high school students.
- Key economic insights have fundamentally shaped the world and this course will help develop a range of transferable skills that can be used across many disciplines.
Learning Outcomes
- Learning the powerful economic insights that have shaped the modern world (without the math), in addition supporting materials that can equip learners to acquire skills in math, if they choose.
- Understanding how economists use data to understand the world
- Discovering how these economic insights help us understand and analyze real world phenomena
- Using economic insights to make the world a better place (or to take advantage of your friends and enemies, if one chooses so)
