Chris Williams NEF: There are some serious problems with the economic approaches used in decision making, both in theory and practice. This isn’t improved by inaccessible language and the methodology tucked away in technical appendices. For this reason it is often difficult for non-economists and the public to engage in debates and to identify misguided economic arguments.
It’s time to challenge the analysis. We hope this series of briefings will equip you with the ability to identify weak rationale and challenge bad decision making.
Briefing 1 – An overview of economics
Briefing 2 – How economics is used in government decision-making
Briefing 3 – Valuing the environment in economic terms
Briefing 4 – Social cost-benefit analysis and social return on investment
Briefing 5 – Discounting and time preferences
Briefing 6 – Multi-criteria analysis
Briefing 7 – Beyond GDP: Valuing what matters and measuring natural capital
Briefing 8 – Markets, market failure and regulation
Briefing 9a – Finance and money: the basics
Briefing 9b – What’s wrong with our financial system?
Briefing 10 – Property rights and ownership models
Briefing 11 – Behavioural economics – dispelling the myths