The term Open Economics was one of the questions asked in the pre-course survey. I googled to find this website to learn about the term.
Since this is a course about Open Knowledge, I think the website is a relevant piece of tools to let us understand the economics in the world we live in, so that we have a better idea of whether our governments and giant corporations are providing a proper service to the citizens. The following is quoted from the Why section of the Open Economics Working Group:
"Today, we have available the technologies and legal mechanisms to open up an unprecedented amount of information relevant to understanding economies and markets. In opening up economic data we enable it to be freely combined and redistributed with other sources of information, leading to the emergence of a richer ecosystem of information sharing and a greater ability to combine this material with the increasingly sophisticated tools for representation, visualization and analysis that are available. These developments would benefit both expert economists and the wider general public interested in economic issues. However currently many individuals and organisations involved in publishing economic data are not making their data explicitly open and are not aware of the benefits of doing so. Moreover, now more than ever, it is imperative for us to gain a better shared picture of economies and markets around the globe, to inform policies aimed at economic recovery, to make economic decisions more transparent, and to make decision makers more accountable. From understanding the roots of the financial crisis to the impact of patents on innovation to the effectiveness of international development funding, sharing economic data more effectively is the first step towards better policies, and more collaborative research around major international problems."
Since this is a course about Open Knowledge, I think the website is a relevant piece of tools to let us understand the economics in the world we live in, so that we have a better idea of whether our governments and giant corporations are providing a proper service to the citizens. The following is quoted from the Why section of the Open Economics Working Group:
"Today, we have available the technologies and legal mechanisms to open up an unprecedented amount of information relevant to understanding economies and markets. In opening up economic data we enable it to be freely combined and redistributed with other sources of information, leading to the emergence of a richer ecosystem of information sharing and a greater ability to combine this material with the increasingly sophisticated tools for representation, visualization and analysis that are available. These developments would benefit both expert economists and the wider general public interested in economic issues. However currently many individuals and organisations involved in publishing economic data are not making their data explicitly open and are not aware of the benefits of doing so. Moreover, now more than ever, it is imperative for us to gain a better shared picture of economies and markets around the globe, to inform policies aimed at economic recovery, to make economic decisions more transparent, and to make decision makers more accountable. From understanding the roots of the financial crisis to the impact of patents on innovation to the effectiveness of international development funding, sharing economic data more effectively is the first step towards better policies, and more collaborative research around major international problems."
See more at: http://openeconomics.net/about/#sthash.wSHWyfcR.dpuf