Preparing Leaders for the Next Century: An Essay on Economic Education

摘要

Public policy decisions involving agricultural and natural resource issues are founded on prevailing world views and ethical considerations. Teaching undergraduate students how to analyze these fundamental factors demands the use of models and tools which go beyond the standard content of the conventional economics class. A political economy framework is developed in this essay which enables the instructor to capture the essence of policy analysis witfiout losing the analytical rigor of economics. This framework serves as both a challenge to standard classroom approaches and as a complementary instructional tool.The predominant emphasis in undergraduate economic education is placed on models of self-interest and purely competilive markets. In Colleges of Agriculture, rational maximization models at the consumer and firm level, and the assumption that agricultureis a perfectly competitive industry, continue to dominate our instructional programs. Yet it is increasingly obvious to this interested observer that a world view solely based on simple abstract models of economic rationality falls short in preparing our students for management positions in industry and government where human interaction is not cosdess, information is not complete, institutions matter, and where the exercise of economic power is an everyday occurrence. Our undergraduates need and deserve a broader, yet complementary, analytical framework which will equip them for grappling with the major agricultural and natural resource issues they will confront in their careers.As noted by Jimmerson (1991):"Leaders recognize the importance of their personal world view and the world view of others as basic to the change process. One's world view includes his/her culture, background and experiences which provide the basis for his/her values, goals, beliefs and assumptions'' (p. SO).