Teaching Economics Historically (Essay‪)‬

Introduction A common morning tea discussion topic at History of Economic Thought Society conferences is the declining possibilities for teaching history of thought courses in Australian universities. Similar trends overseas have been discussed by Cardoso (1995) and Blaug (2001). Typically in Australia the subject has been taught at third-year level as an option, and the number of universities offering such courses has been declining steadily. Sometimes courses have been kept going by dedicated teachers who undertake them in addition to their normal load. Contributing to the decline has been the reluctance of economics departments to hire young specialist historians of economic thought, and the retirement of older specialists is often the trigger for removal of the course from the degree program.