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This paper examines the recent evolution of the Australian economics curriculum.2 First, it examines 2011 survey evidence produced by the Economic Society of Australia that shows that the Australian economics profession wishes to see a broadening and updating of what is taught. These findings are then related to an analysis of the curriculum in both 1980 and 2011 to see if the curriculum is moving in the desired direction. It is shown that the curriculum is not moving in the desired direction, becoming narrower, rather than broader. It has also not kept up to date with important advances in economic knowledge. It is argued that there are strong intellectual and practical benefits that would come from remedying this situation.

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Community colleges (often called two-year colleges) are an important part of the USA tertiary education system. Despite the sector's significance, relatively little research on economics instruction in the community colleges has occurred. This constrains the sector's capacity to understand its own needs, unique contributions, considerable strengths, and strong potential. It also adds to the risk -and often, the reality -of the sector being misunderstood, undervalued, and under-supported by the economics profession and by policymakers. To help address this research shortfall, we conducted a roundtable on community colleges during mid-2019. Participants were invited on the basis of either their extensive experience in the sector, previous research on community colleges, or their expertise on US economics education in general. Issues discussed include recent developments in the sector, the level of support and recognition provided, the content economics curriculum, and how economics instruction in community colleges could be better supported.

This study analyses the increasingly non‐plural nature of the Australian economics curriculum. The main explanation for this narrowing is that the social science wing of economics is having increasing difficulty in reproducing itself within traditional centres of economics teaching. Evidence suggests the best response to this problem is greater differentiation and institutional independence for economics as a social science. Specifically, the social science wing should differentiate itself as the discipline of ‘political economy’ within faculties of social science. This strategy of differentiation and independence can potentially bring about the revitalisation of the social science wing of the discipline. This would be to the benefit of economics education as a whole.