Reviving the economic debate

Are the economist, his tools and his reading grid able to account for economic reality as experienced by the citizen? And do they manage to make themselves understood in an intelligible way? While these two questions have plagued economists since the founding of economic science, a new, even more dizzying and difficult one has arisen: are citizens even listening?

A sharp drop in the general level of education and general economic culture, a retreat from high school economics courses, a lack of attention, a disinterest in politics and any form of serious debate: all these factors have locked the economist and his thinking in an almost existential impasse. The economic debate has never been so impoverished, and this at a time when the succession of economic shocks we’ve experienced since 2008 make it more important than ever to understand, explain, interpret and translate them. Against this backdrop, what is the role of the media in popularizing and transmitting economic debate? How can we make economic discussions more accessible?