Economics Education under Algorithmic Power: Moral Judgment, Pluralism and the Political Economy of AI

Stephane Hlaimi and John Maloney
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Stephane Hlaimi: Department of Economics, University of Exeter
John Maloney: Department of Economics, University of Exeter

No 2605, Discussion Papers from University of Exeter, Department of Economics

Abstract: The rapid diffusion of generative artificial intelligence in higher education is reshaping not only assessment practices but the epistemic and normative foundations of disciplinary knowledge. In economics education, where the distinction between positive analysis and normative judgment has long structured curricula, algorithmic systems risk amplifying theoretical monocultures, obscuring value assumptions, and privileging procedural fluency over critical reflection. This article argues that AI is not a neutral pedagogical tool but a sociotechnical infrastructure embedded in corporate power, data regimes, and the broader political economy of AI. The paper addresses three questions: How does algorithmic power reconfigure the moral architecture of economics education? Can AI strengthen rather than narrow pluralist inquiry? What institutional conditions are required for coherent and sustainable integration? Drawing on pluralist and heterodox economics, philosophy of economics, critical scholarship on the political economy of AI, and empirical research in economics education and assessment, the article develops a Moral-AI Pedagogy Framework embedding normative transparency, structured pluralism, critical AI literacy, and assessment reform centred on justificatory reasoning. Extending beyond classroom design, the analysis examines curriculum governance, faculty incentives, and digital procurement. When calculation accelerates, the cultivation of moral judgment becomes more, not less, essential.

Keywords: economics education; political economy of AI; algorithmic power; pluralism in economics; moral judgment; heterodox economics; higher education governance; assessment reform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A22 B41 I23 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05-14
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