YSI Questions
What are the questions that inspire our community?
As the next generation of economic thinkers, we are faced with new and different questions. That includes the question of how to respond to the ongoing crises. We need to reimagine what it means to ‘think like an economist’. Instead of starting from a technique that can be applied to every problem, we need to start from the questions themselves, and only once we have identified those can we start to explore new ways of answering them.
To achieve this, the YSI community has embarked on a challenge to identify the research questions that inspire us. Identifying these questions will help us connect projects, people, and working groups, allowing our efforts to converge. At the same time, they will ensure that we stay true to the YSI spirit as our community grows.
Read on to get an overview of the the significant progress the YSI community has already made on our questions project, and to see the current list of the top 100 questions!
The Plenary 2020 Questions
During the YSI Virtual Plenary, held online during November 2020, the YSI community worked on asking, refining and evaluating questions, using the YSI Question Graph - a unique digital system designed and developed specifically to allow the YSI community to collaboratively engage with questions.
Input from keynotes and members alike was added into the YSI Question Graph system, which formed the basis for the Plenary Set of 100 Questions. Explore the top 100 Plenary Questions by browsing the list below!
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Top questions
This is a list of the top questions from the YSI Plenary 2020.
What place does the current economic system give to uselessness, that is, to beauty? - His Holiness Pope Francis
Connected Research InterestsHow do we make economics, and economies, truly inclusive? - Julie Nelson
Connected Research InterestsCan economic systems (of production, consumption, and distribution) be fundamentally just? How can we design and maintain a sustainable and non-violent transition to a fairer economic system?
Connected Research InterestsHow can we frame a model of development that is more people oriented rather than goods oriented?
Connected Research InterestsHow do we steer economies towards value creation and away from value extraction? - Mariana Mazzucato
Connected Research InterestsHow can economics address issues of intersecting inequalities? (Class, gender, race, caste, ethnicity, local/migrant) - Jayati Ghosh
Connected Research InterestsRecognizing the biases implicit mainstream economic thought, how can we build a better discipline of economics? - Julie Nelson
Connected Research InterestsWhat will be the economic role of the state over the next century? - Mervyn King
Connected Research InterestsCould economists and young scholars participate in the creation of a new economic model, and implement it as a cryptocurrency? Could a decentralized value system be resilient enough to withstand political and financial efforts to maintain status quo?
Connected Research InterestsHow can economics incorporate insights from other disciplines?
Connected Research InterestsAre economic growth and sustainability mutually exclusive?
Connected Research InterestsWhat is value?
Connected Research InterestsHow can we ensure that the political dimensions of economics are not obscured?
Connected Research InterestsTo what extent is the discipline of economics a part of the problem itself?
Connected Research InterestsHow do we cope with unquantifiable uncertainty? - Mervyn King
Connected Research InterestsAs a practical matter, how can Democratic open societies like the US and the EU cooperate with repressive regimes on global problems like climate change and infectious diseases that require global cooperation? - George Soros
Connected Research InterestsIf the origin of the word economy refers to the administration of household goods, one might ask: who today administers the goods of our Common Home? What bond unites those who administer those assets and those whose assets are administered? - His Holiness Pope Francis
Connected Research InterestsHow will CBDC (central bank digital currencies) affect monetary economics (or the future of money or nature of money)?
Connected Research InterestsWhat is the most important ethical / moral issue for economics to address?
Connected Research InterestsWhat kind of welfare state do we need for the post-pandemic world?
Connected Research InterestsCan democracy survive global capitalism? - Martin Wolf
Connected Research InterestsIs industrialisation a necessary step for economic development?
Connected Research InterestsHow can economists pretend to know what the future looks like when it depends on decisions that have not yet been taken? - George Soros
Connected Research InterestsCan economists assure us that the future will be orderly and controllable when humans are fallible and people try to understand the world and change it to their advantage at the same time? - George Soros
Connected Research InterestsTaking into account that the administration of household goods requires its rules, its laws: what could be those laws that put the economy at the service of fragility? What should the relationship between economics and politics be like to ensure that everyone has what is necessary to live a fulfilling life? - His Holiness Pope Francis
Connected Research InterestsWhat could be the core idea of economics in the 21 century, that is, beyond the allocation of scarce resources?
Connected Research InterestsWhy are the BigTechs the winners of the Pandemic?
Connected Research InterestsWhat is the connection between the deepening inequality of recent decades and the growing prominence of the meritocratic belief that the winners deserve their success? - Michael Sandel
Connected Research InterestsWhat are the social implications of data mining?
Connected Research InterestsHow can we make sure that technological and scientific development has equitable social impact?
Connected Research InterestsHow can we account for the influence of power in economic analysis?
Connected Research InterestsDo free markets always lead to concentration of wealth?
Connected Research InterestsWhat are the alternatives to GDP for measuring economic performance?
Connected Research InterestsHow can we handle AI responsibly?
Connected Research InterestsIf chances were truly equal and markets were perfectly competitive, would market outcomes reflect what people deserve? If not by markets, how can we determine the value of a person's contribution to the common good? - Michael Sandel
Connected Research InterestsHow can we include socio-cultural diversity into economic models of development?
Connected Research InterestsWhat is required to achieve the collective action needed to tackle the global challenge of climate change?
Connected Research InterestsHow might developing countries position themselves to reach for new technological frontiers, rather than to catch up to current ones?
Connected Research InterestsHow could industrial policy help developing countries in the 21st century?
Connected Research InterestsWhy did the Covid-19 pandemic exaccerbate inequality within countries?
Connected Research InterestsHow can we overcome the polarising and concentrating tendencies of the digital economy to address or alleviate inequality?
Connected Research InterestsWhat capacity do developing countries have for implementing industrial and innovation policies?
Connected Research InterestsIf chances were truly equal and markets were perfectly competitive, would market outcomes reflect what people deserve? If not by markets, how can we determine the value of a person's contribution to the common good? - Michael Sandel
Connected Research InterestsTo what extent the crisis of democracy is a consequence of capitalism's inequalities?
Connected Research InterestsEfficiency serves as the main target dimension in economics. How to best broaden the normative lense in Econ analysis? - Jakob Kapeller
Connected Research InterestsWhat is the role of economists in society?
Connected Research InterestsHow could financial systems be modified to help achieve the needs of more sustainable and inclusive economies? - Stephany Griffith-Jones
Connected Research InterestsWhat is the connection between the deepening inequality of recent decades and the growing prominence of the meritocratic belief that the winners deserve their success? - Michael Sandel
Connected Research InterestsWhat new roles could economists play?
Connected Research InterestsWhat should and shouldn't be included when we speak of "the economy"?
Connected Research InterestsWhat's the future of work if machines can produce most goods and services; what follows for jobs and inequality? - Lord Adair Turner
Connected Research InterestsWhat is economics role in climate change mitigation?
Connected Research InterestsHow do we understand the relationship between power and wealth, and might it be the key to alleviating inequality?
Connected Research InterestsHow can firms innovate themselves to survive in the post pandemic era?
Connected Research InterestsHow can we explain the mismatch between strong digital innovations and sluggish growth?
Connected Research InterestsHow should we define work?
Connected Research InterestsWhat is public value? - Mariana Mazzucato
Connected Research InterestsWhat are the ethical challenges that we need to rework on to succeed as economists? - Yanis Varoufakis
Connected Research InterestsHow should economics address global power imbalances?
Connected Research InterestsHow do the institutions of a country affect the path of economic development?
Connected Research InterestsHow can we finance the green transisition?
Connected Research InterestsHow can we effectively construct micro foundations that effectively reflect the heterogeneity of market participants? - Bill Janeway
Connected Research InterestsWhat are the implications of structural differences between developing and developed countries for economic theories? - Justin Yifu Lin
Connected Research InterestsWhat is the appropriate role of state in the process of economic development and transition in a market economy ? - Justin Yifu Lin
Connected Research InterestsGiven power imbalances and elite pushback, can global economic relations enable equitable and sustainable development? - Jayati Ghosh
Connected Research InterestsWhy is there a relative scarcity of female economists? - Goncalo Fonseca
Connected Research InterestsDoes trying to combine economics and ethics improve economics or merely worsen ethics? - Gonçalo Fonseca
Connected Research InterestsHow has neoclassical economics influenced the way people think and behave?
Connected Research InterestsWhat is the role of narratives in economic decisions and behaviour? - Behavior and Society Working Group
Connected Research InterestsWhere do economic preferences come from? and what are they?
Connected Research InterestsShould public development banks have bigger roles; how could they serve well transition to low carbon and fair economy? - Stephany Griffith-Jones
Connected Research InterestsHow should we reconceive economics considering its earlier conception of economics not as value neutral but engaged in moral and political philosophy?
Connected Research InterestsKeynes said increasingly only economists determine what future will be possible for youth as the next generation -indeed possibilities are exponentially locked in- so why do so few people teach economics as designing future instead of extracting money?
Connected Research InterestsMarket capitalism and representative democracy: can they be married? - Bill Janeway
Connected Research InterestsHave we solved the 'economic' problem which Keynes anticipated, that is, could we all in principle live a life of leisure?
Connected Research InterestsIs the conflict between capital and labour the main driver of wealth inequality?
Connected Research InterestsHow is the theory of the innovative firm linked to the global capital accumulation trends?
Connected Research InterestsHow can we propose economic assumptions that better reflect reality?
Connected Research InterestsMust economics generalize? Beyond the data, can economics develop theories and/or methods specific to time and place? - Geoff Mann
Connected Research InterestsHow do we bring public purpose to the centre of policy making? - Mariana Mazzucato
Connected Research InterestsHow do we put innovation at the centre of the welfare state? - Mariana Mazzucato
Connected Research InterestsHow do we put inclusive growth at the centre of a new social compact - so that we don’t have the rely so much on redistribution? - Mariana Mazzucato
Connected Research InterestsHow does the notion of the utility maximizing rational agent work as ideology justifying unregulated markets and their results?
Connected Research InterestsCovid is making countries pile on new debts that increase inequality. How to get "quantitative easing for people"? - Thomas Ferguson
Connected Research InterestsIs human behavior rational or reasonable?
Connected Research InterestsWhich parts of the global economy will continue to globalize, which will deglobalize?
Connected Research InterestsHow should productivity be measured?
Connected Research InterestsDo economists need to have a shared conception of the ultimate ends of economics?
Connected Research InterestsHow do health (physical and mental) and other forms of well-being impact civic engagement, trust in institutions, and voting patterns? - Shannon Monnat
Connected Research InterestsHow could financial systems be modified to help achieve the needs of more sustainable and inclusive economies ? - Stephany Griffith-Jones
Connected Research InterestsHow to save the climate without causing further distributional asymmetries and restricting individual freedom? - Jakob Kapeller
Connected Research InterestsWhat is money?
Connected Research InterestsWhat property arrangements foster a sustainable approach to economic development better than private property?
Connected Research InterestsHow are climate change mitigation and adaptation measures perceived by different social groups?
Connected Research InterestsHow do distributional issues affect macro models and policy and how are they usefully incorporated into micro models? - Bill Janeway
Connected Research InterestsWill the China US rivalry fundamentally change the way the world and the global system functions, and if so, with what consequences. - Michael Spence
Connected Research InterestsHow can new technologies be employed towards social progress?
Connected Research InterestsWhy are some regions more resillient towards economic crisis than others?
Connected Research InterestsThe 2020 Plenary and The YSI Question Cosmos
The YSI Question Cosmos - also known as the Questions Graph - is a unique and custom made system which saw the light of day for the first time at the YSI Virtual Plenary 2020. The Graph is divided into different constellations, each of which represent different areas of (new) economic interest.
In the screenshot below, you can see the Role of Economists constellation, and some of the most popular questions it contains. In this case, a featured question by Julie Nelson is highlighted:
How do we make economics, and economies, truly inclusive?
The entire Questions Cosmos is made up of all the Constellations, the questions they contain, and the connections between them, in the form of research interests.
Each yellow 'star' represents a question. Each blue dot represents a YSI research interest.
The location of each question is governed by gravitational forces defined by research interests, so questions with overlapping research interests will be closer together!
Get a quick introduction to the Questions Cosmos system by watching the short video above!
The YSI Questions Cosmos developed, over the course of the 2020 Plenary, into a bustling galaxy of questions. The YSI community interacted with questions - creating new questions, suggesting rephrasing to existing questions, and marking their favorites among either - within the Question Sessions. Each Question Session featured a keynote speaker, who collaborated with community members to create and refine questions; and as they did, the Cosmos grew. However, only the top 100 favorite questions, chosen by Plenary participants, made it to the final version of the Plenary Cosmos.
The Questions of the Future
The YSI Virtual Plenary, and the 100 top questions it produced, represent great steps forward in our mutual challenge to identify the research questions that inspire us as a community.
The Plenary was not, however, the end of the questions process, but rather a crucial step on the way onward!
The YSI development team is now digesting the data and input gathered from the Plenary and its participants, while also undertaking a large effort to gather input and feedback from the community directly. This input will determine how we proceed with the continued development of the Questions and the Questions Graph, and how we implement the systems and knowledge developed during the Plenary into the YSI platform of tomorrow.
We will update this page once we have analyzed our data and have new developments to report - stay tuned!