Economics Standards and Lists: Proposed Antidotes for Feminist Economists

As Marianne A. Ferber points out in her critique of the US National Voluntary Content Standards for Pre-College Economics Education, feminist economists who are educators face many pressing issues (Marianne Ferber 1999). In continuing the dialogue initiated by Ferber, we find her arguments apply not only to the Voluntary Content Standards, but also to the growing number of similar lists. Such defining lists figure prominently in the principles-of-economics texts used in introductory economics courses in the U.S., at both the secondary and university levels. After observing how these increasingly standardized principles of economics promote a narrowing of economic thinking, we pose possible feminist responses (antidotes) to them. Our aim is to arm feminist economists with responses that will help students understand that these lists are created without social and cultural boundaries. Our antidotes will also promote a fuller understanding of the scope and richness of economic thought, and the power of economic analysis.