Young people in the UK are faced with increasingly daunting futures.
- Where one in five young people are homeless
- Where they owe more than £50,000 for a university degree that might not even lead to a job
- Where they are unable to access mental health or sexual health services due to cuts to youth services.
Simply put, the economy does not work for young people, and it will not until young come together to build a new economy that works for young people and society.
We’re training young people to work together to deliver talks to other young people in their communities. All with the aim of inspiring and empowering hundreds of them to join the movement for a fairer economy. Apply HERE.
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“The way monetary economics and banking is taught in many – maybe most – universities is very misleading.”
Professor David Miles, Monetary Policy Committee, Bank of England
Universities often teach ideas about money and banking that have been out of date for decades. If you are a student make sure academics and students in your University understand how banks really work today, and how that affects the main social and economic challenges that we’re facing today.
1. Educate yourself, your Professor and your fellow students
Read the Bank of England paper Money Creation in the Modern Economy, which explains how money is created by the banking system, and highlights the ways in which the textbooks are wrong:
Send it to your professor and ask them to integrate it into their lectures on money creation or the money multiplier. If they’re currently using any textbook other than those by Howells & Bain, then they’re likely to be teaching an inaccurate version of how the banking system works.
Watch our Banking 101 course (50 minutes) which explains how banks create money today, and why the textbooks are (mostly) inaccurate.
Get a copy of Where Does Money Come From? – Whereas most undergraduate textbooks are based on theories about banking that are completely out of date, this book is based on original documents from the Bank of England, and was referenced in the Bank of England’s recent paper on money creation.
Online Courses
Prof. Perry Merhling’s course on the Economics of Money and Banking is highly recommended for students or those who want to understand post-crisis finance in detail. Both parts are free to watch online.
Recommended Textbooks
The most accurate textbooks that we’ve found are those by Howells and Bain:
The Economics of Money, Banking and Finance: a European Text
Financial Markets & Institutions
2. Organise an event at your University
We have lots of resources to help you organise a successful event. Have a look at our organise an event page and get in touch with rachel@positivemoney.org to find out how we can support you and advertise your event.
3. Get involved in an alternative economic society
Since the financial crisis, students across the world have started to question and challenge the economics syllabus being taught in Universities. We know the monetary system is often mis-taught in Universities. We need your help to change it!
Find out if there is a alternative economics society at your University and see if they would like to organise an event about monetary reform.
- Rethinking Economics has a list of different student groups across the world
- Students at the University of Manchester have set up the Post-Crash Economics Society and released this excellent report on problems with the economics syllabus at Manchester.
- Register for the International Student Initiative for Pluralism in Economics, a campaign to get economic curriculums updates following the financial crisis.
If you are interested in setting up an event or a Positive Money group at your university, email rachel@positivemoney.org and we will help out in anyway we can.