Essential Economics:
A Research Institute for Policy Change
If we are serious about saving democracy and preventing the further rise of the far-right, we need an economics that serves democracy and puts people's needs and dignity first.
What it takes is an economy organized around the affordable provision of essential goods for all.
Essential Economics is a research institute in the making. Our ambition is research that turns the economics of essentials into concrete policy proposals. We connect three spheres that are too often kept apart – academic research, concrete problem solving for better policies, and public engagement that involves both listening and talking.
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Isabella M. Weber
Essential Economics was founded – and is led – by Isabella M. Weber.
Isabella M. Weber is an associate professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an associate in research at the Fairbank Center, Harvard University.
She is the author of the prize-winning How China Escaped Shock Therapy. Her new book, Anti-Fascist Economics, is published by Penguin and Suhrkamp in October 2026. Her next book is ESSENTIAL: Inflation, Profits and Survival in an Age of Emergencies.
She works on policy responses to inflation and has advised policy-makers in the US, Germany, Europe and Latin America. She has been recognized by TIME Magazine on their 100 Next list.
It takes many more than one economist. We are building a strong team. More soon!