About The ERC

Inspiring more than 70 years of debate.

Economic Research Council

The Economic Research Council, Britain’s oldest economics-based think tank, is dedicated to extending the reach of economic education, debate and leadership. In support of this, the ERC raises the profile of economic conversations; we host events to cultivate wider accessibility, inclusion and civic participation.

History

The Economic Research Council was founded in 1943 as the Joint Council for Economic and Monetary Research. Its origins go back at least a decade earlier to the 1930s, when a number of prominent people, concerned at the poverty around them in the midst of plenty, started questioning the use in Britain of a monetary system that had failed the nation in the past and was liable to go on perpetuating the sequence of boom, slump, boom of the 1920s. If orthodox economics were to blame then its basic tenets should be challenged.

More information on Edward Holloway, one of the founding members of the ERC, can be found here.

The ERC Today

The challengers should be informed citizens who make it our business to learn more about the practical aspects of economics, and to get more people to join us in this process of enlightenment.

The Council is a registered charity

The part the Council seeks to play in the economic life of the nation is to be an agent for change, supporting economic education and wider accessibility. The activities of the Council are all intended to reflect and develop this role.