The need to take action began in early 2009 during a series of conversations between Anatole Kaletsky, George Soros, Roman Frydman and a number of scholars in Great Britain. Several months later, Robert Johnson joined the discussion and agreed to assume role of Executive Director. After Dr. Johnson held an additional series of conversations pertaining to the challenge with Willem Buiter, Martin Wolf, Charles Goodhart, Joseph Stiglitz and Robert Dugger, he and George Soros decided to hold a brainstorming session and invite 25 leaders in economics to Bedford, NY to discuss the economic crisis at the end of September 2009.
The conversations that took place investigated the role of the economic profession in the process that led to the worldwide meltdown of economic activity. The 25 leaders discussed the structure and evolution of academic thinking and the incentives for publishing, promotion and professional success in prestigious academic circles. The group then focused methods to enable the profession to progress and innovate and better serve policy makers, and ultimately, society in comprehending and guiding the economy. Two vigorous days of discussions pointed to the need for an independent organization that would catalyze new and broader thinking.
Summit Conversations included:
- A unanimous agreement that our economic paradigm must change
- The importance of empowering the young generation of economists to rethink our economic strategy
- A realization that the study of economics within graduate studies has been manipulated by the marketplace
- A conversation regarding the role of mathematics as the dominating language of economics versus an illuminating tool
- An understanding that economics have broken free from the planet and no longer reflects the real world
- The necessity of incorporating economic history and narrative in graduate education
- The realization of shared concerns
