Changing the field of economics and ultimately the theories, policies and practices of a 21st century economy will take serious, sustained work over many years. To that end, INET establishes special Research Programs around themes that will be critical to our success.

These ambitious efforts are led by prominent economic scholars, often members of our Advisory Board, who have the stature and the experience to lead. Their job will be to energize the field of focus and manage the program of research that will be carried out by younger professors and graduate students who will receive funding similar to those who will be supported by individual grants.

Economics Curriculum Committee

Chaired by Lord Robert Skidelsky and Perry Mehrling, the research program is developing curriculum reform recommendations for both US and non-US academic institutions.

Economic History

Chaired by Barry Eichengreen at the University of California Berkeley, the research program is ramping up the production of historically literate economists capable of contributing to the policy debate.

History of Economic Thought

Chaired by Bruce Caldwell at Duke University’s Center for the History of Political Economy, the research program is preparing young scholars to teach and to do research in the history of economics, and promoting the use of history of economics in graduate research in other fields of economics.

Human Capital and Economic Opportunity

Under the leadership of James Heckman at the University of Chicago, the research program is designated to integrate human capital development research with research on macro markets, and to build an international network of researchers from multiple disciplines.

Imperfect Knowledge Economics (IKE)

Chaired by Roman Frydman of New York University, the research program is developing a formal macroeconomics and finance theory that is open to non-routine change and economists’ imperfect knowledge, and explores their empirical and policy implications.