The following article first appeared in the INOMICS Handbook 2022. Download the INOMICS Handbook Professor Marcel Fratzscher, esteemed macroeconomist and president of the DIW Berlin, once again asks questions about economics and life in general to a peer in the 2022 edition of the INOMICS Handbook Questionnaire. This time, he has the pleasure of being joined by renowned economic historian Adam Tooze, who generously agreed to take the hot seat in this exchange. Thus, the back-and-forth has been dubbed Fratzscher vs. Tooze, as is tradition. What follows is a dive into the beauty of wild places, the gender bias still present in economics, the link between policy makers and central banks, the limits of the search for perfect causality in the social sciences, and even more. Tooze’s perspective is unique and fresh, and is sure to be an interesting read you won’t want to miss.

Klaus Teuber’s Settlers of Catan is a popular board game that has become a mainstay of friendly gatherings across the globe. For the uninitiated, in Catan up to 4 players compete to be the first one with 10 victory points. Points are gained by building houses (“settlements”), cities, and roads on a heretofore unsettled island rife with natural resources. Catan has nearly limitless replay value - with 3,695,814,682,560,000 (over 3 quadrillion!) different unique board layouts using just the base rules. Chances are, you’ve heard of Catan even if you don’t particularly love board games.

If you're going abroad for your studies, either for a few weeks or a few months, you'll need to deal with some practical issues. One such practical concern is finding student housing – how can you find international student housing when you're not currently in the country? To help you through this, we're sharing some tips on how to find a place to live while you're studying abroad.

The playing of simple, short games has become an increasingly common way to teach a range of key concepts and theories in economics.

A PhD can be a very expensive endeavor regardless of your background. There are many funding opportunities to finance your economics PhD and they are all worth considering prior to committing to a specific program. Remember that there are options, and that ultimately most graduate programs will view you as an asset based on what you can give back to the program through research, assisting other professors, or even obtaining grants. So, although you’re competing to get into their programs, they should also be “competing” to offer you the most options for financing. If you plan to start your PhD application this autumn, you can also download our free guide "How to successfully apply to a PhD in Economics".

Good feedback helps students to understand the scale of any weaknesses in their understanding. To be effective, it will also be timely, encourage students and provide useful tips for how to improve in the future.

The following article first appeared in the INOMICS Handbook 2022. Download the INOMICS Handbook While every generation claims its problems are the most formidable and pressing in the annals of humankind, our generation certainly has a strong case: a global pandemic that has already taken five million lives, and a world seemingly headed toward catastrophe, unable to keep global temperatures from rising and thus contain climate change.

Chiara Yates, professor of economics at Southern New Hampshire University, offers advice to aspiring economists navigating their studies and the early stages of their career. The following article first appeared in the INOMICS Handbook 2022. Download the INOMICS Handbook

Your phone is one of the most useful tools you’ve got. Using the technology accessible to us is a great way to keep abreast of economics research, enhance studying, and remain up-to-date with economics-related news. Most of the apps listed below are available on tablets too, so you can download them on whichever device is more appropriate for you.

In spite of all its distracting qualities, your phone is one of the most useful tools you’ve got, whether you’re studying or working in the field. It’s simply a question of how you use it. With this in mind, we have compiled a list of apps that are helpful for economists to have. They can help you find data, stay up to date, and crunch numbers on the go. INOMICS takes part in the Apple affiliate program. This article contains affiliate links, which means we may earn money through any qualifying purchases made after you click through. However, this is not a sponsored post.

How to Optimize Your Summer School Promotion on INOMICS With the festive period over, now is the season to find Summer Schools on INOMICS. Each year we see a marked increase between January and May in the number of visitors navigating on the INOMICS site to the "Summer Schools" sub-category.

The following article first appeared in the INOMICS Handbook 2021. Download the INOMICS Handbook On a visit to the London School of Economics in November 2008, the Queen asked her hosts why no one had seen the financial crisis coming. It took the professors nine months to come up with an excuse, put forth in a letter in July 2009:

This article was produced in cooperation with the Economics Network, the largest and longest-established academic organisation devoted to improving the teaching and learning of economics in higher education. Learn more about the Economics Network here. When you enter the job market for teaching economics, the institutions that you are applying for may well have different characteristics. Therefore, you may need to tailor your application to the type of institution and the role specifications in the job advert.

Now in their sixth year, the INOMICS Awards remain unique in their celebration of institutions committed to the career development of economists worldwide.

For as long as we can remember, Mother Nature has been serving mankind as our major root source of livelihood. From the land that provides the nutrients for our crops, to the stone for our roads and buildings, to the oil for transport in our globalized world, we rely on these natural resources to maintain our modern way of life.

As you develop your career in higher education economics, you will likely be carrying out research within a field in economics. But you will also likely be involved in delivering and developing teaching within your department. As a result, you may be interested in developing and disseminating an understanding of what students should learn and how they learn.

Online learning is not a novelty anymore. During the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown, many institutions were forced to invest in their online program offerings - or simply adjust their courses to be online-friendly. But sometimes it’s nice to learn without having to fully commit to a long program. Other times, learning from a different source can help new concepts make sense, or can refresh the memory.

As an academic economist, it is likely that you will be engaged in both research and teaching. As you develop your skills, it will be important to think about what makes good teaching, and how the discussion about pedagogy in economics education develops over time. Knowledge and appreciation of the debates in pedagogy may also be important as you apply for external certification, such as an Advance HE fellowship. You may even want to develop and write for publication about economics pedagogy. There are a range of journals and conferences for those interested in higher education pedagogy. 

Esteemed economist, Berkeley Professor, and friend of INOMICS, Edward Miguel generously took time out of his busy schedule to take part in the fourth INOMICS Handbook Questionnaire. Opposite him in his customary role of quizmaster was Professor Marcel Fratzscher, president of the DIW Berlin, and one of Germany’s leading voices in macroeconomics. Observing tradition, and as a nod to those involved, the encounter has been dubbed ‘Fratzscher v Miguel’.  What took place was both in-depth and personal, the conversation ranging from the beauty of Hawaii and gender bias in economics, all the way to wealth taxes and COVID-19. For anyone connected to economics, especially those starting out, this one is not to be missed.  

Humanity’s evolving nature has propelled it up the food chain, from prey to planetary predator. Just 60,000 years ago, homo sapiens roamed the earth, insignificant and insecure, their existence of little consequence. Life, as Thomas Hobbes put it, was ‘nasty, brutish, and short’. Fast forward to the present and man’s mark is unmistakable, the dawn of the ‘anthropocene’ testament to mesmerizing advances in technology - and a masochistic disregard for our ecosystems.