Written by: Alistair Anderson

Universities need to play a role in preventing financial crises according to the world's brightest minds. Has Wits heeded the call?

Both economists and financiers are arguing - in the throes of the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression - that universities need to teach their students how to avoid the mistakes their predecessors made.

In his recent presentation at Wits, Nobel Prize winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz
argued that the old "one person taking care of his own wants" model was insufficient.

He felt more attention should be given to the way the decisions of economic players all affect each other. But in the wake of his talk, the audience was left without a concrete solution. Stiglitz didn't explicitly suggest what model was more suitable.

"Since he's speaking to a university, I expect him to spend more time discussing how the teachings should change" a student was heard to say.

Commenting on Stiglitz's plea, Wits Finance Professor Christo Auret, said: "Each lecturer has his or her own style. What is important is the content and, obviously, we are keeping up with the latest developments. We do not however have the luxury of a previous Nobel prize winner as lecturer."

Kenneth Creamer, an economics lecturer added: "I think that the teaching of economics is enhanced by the kind of polemics that are raised by Joseph Stiglitz."

"I think it is important that students are taught to think about both sides of debates on important policy frameworks such as inflation targeting. It is pedagogically barren simply to teach critiques of policy frameworks without building up a thorough understanding of the rationale supporting these frameworks."

Another critique getting attention at the moment is that of a professor from Australia, who predicted the economic crisis.

In his book, 'Debunking Economics', Associate Professor of Economics and Finance at the University of Western Sydney, Steve Keen, argues that modern economics is directly to blame for the crisis.

He says their assumptions evade reality, and are undesirable because they are inefficient. The conclusions of economists are far too sensitive to slight changes in these assumptions.

The book's conclusion looks at economic schools of thought in general. "None of these is at present strong enough or complete enough to declare itself a contender for the title of ‘the' economic theory of the 21st century."

Wits may not offer Nobel Laureates as lecturers, but even the "great minds" of the world don't seem to agree on or even know how to solve the most serious economic problems we've had to face for generations.

Alistair Anderson is a Wits journalism student. This article was first published in Vuvuzela, a product of Wits Journalism School.