Eusep

The Edinburgh University Society for Economic Pluralism is a platform that allows all students to cast a critical eye on mainstream economics. EUSEP advocates an interdisciplinary approach to economics and promotes heterodox schools of thought within economics as we believe diversity of thought is key to inspiring new and critical ideas in and beyond the field of economics. As economist Ha-Joon Chang says, “95% of Economics is common sense deliberately made complicated”. Yet economics affects everyone. Therefore we strive to demystify economics, making it accessible and relevant for everyone. The goal of EUSEP is to challenge the dominance of one way of thinking about economics. We are wary of mainstream economics’ questionable ability to account for reality and we are concerned by the lack of critical perspective of its core assumptions, methodologies and of its potential ideological biases. Mainstream economics has monopolised the market for economic ideas and set up barriers to entry through its apparent complexity and mathematical sophistication. We aim to challenge the neoclassical hegemony by placing mainstream economics under scrutiny, promoting marginalised heterodox schools of thought and the history of economic thought. In rethinking the economics curriculum in this way, we aim to put economics back in its rightful context, open to critical review by all. We are a part of the worldwide pluralist movement, officially affiliated with Rethinking Economics and the International Student Initiative for Pluralism in Economics (ISIPE). Through hosting guest lectures, reading groups, and socials we aim to educate ourselves and others in non-mainstream economic ideas and enjoy ourselves in the process. Economics is for everyone. Membership is free.