Richmond Fed Publication Explores the State of Modern Economics

Market Wire, October, 2008

Debate among economists is livelier than ever. Universities are experiencing a boom in applications and enrollment. Exciting new research frontiers are beginning to produce real results. A special section in the new issue of Region Focus explores how economists today are answering some big questions.

-- Have Economists Abandoned the Real World? Economists are often accused of being too theoretical. But department chairs from some of the Fifth District's leading economics programs suggest that their schools are creating innovative approaches to provide a richer form of training for a new generation of economists -- while still recognizing the importance of formal theory and mathematical techniques.

-- Are People Really Rational? Economists in the growing field of "behavioral economics" question whether market participants act rationally in the marketplace. Yet some cutting-edge scholars are discovering that it's too soon to declare traditional economics dead.

-- Are Blogs Making Economics More Accessible? Discover how "virtual economics departments" are changing how people are exposed to economic ideas and what that means for the economics profession.

Region Focus, a quarterly business magazine published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, covers the economy and business activities of the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and most of West Virginia.

For free copies of Region Focus, contact the Bank's Public Affairs Department at 804.697.8109. The articles are available online at http://www.richmondfed.org/publications

Contact: Stephen Slivinski Senior Editor Region Focus Phone: 804.697.8149 Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Email Contact