What was “it” that Colander was defining?

George F. DeMartino and Ilene Grabel

The Journal of Economic Education, 2025, vol. 56, issue 3, 240-247

Abstract: This article’s authors reflect on David Colander’s influence on economic theory, policy, and especially pedagogy. In the domain of theory, Colander understood the economy as a complex, unruly system. He advocated the conception of the humble, pragmatic economic policy adviser who “muddles through.” All of this bore directly on how Colander viewed economics education and training, especially for undergraduates. The connecting thread running through his interventions—the “it” Colander was defining—is the idea of epistemic insufficiency in economic practice. Colander’s contributions to thinking about economics pedagogy fall naturally out of his theoretical insights. He critiqued the repression of epistemic limits in the profession by the paternalistic “economist-knows-best” ethos it enables. This has radical implications for how economics educators think about and practice their craft.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/00220485.2025.2498336

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