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“Economists on the catwalk” provides an analytical review of the book Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations by David Warsh, with suggestions for a more comprehensive and accurate approach to the issues involved. Its purpose is to track the changes in economic thinking leading up to, and beyond, the theory of “Endogenous New Growth Theory” put forward by Paul Romer between the mid‐1980s and the mid 1990s, analyzing the part played by the current systems of peer‐review, academic funding and recruitment in university economics departments.

The paper discusses the book in the context of modern economic theories and developments in the field of economics from a broad‐based historical, global, multi‐cultural twenty‐first century perspective.

There has been a radical transformation in economic thinking over the past decade that is forcing a re‐evaluation of economic theory and teaching. A different approach to the subject is required to ensure that it remains relevant and applicable in the rapidly changing modern world.

The paper introduces the “waltz motif” theory of economist Peter Jay as a methodology for tracking trends in national economies; the concept of the “Battle of Ideas” in academic disciplines and in our lives; the process of knowledge acquisition; and the impact of the changing social contract. The paper is of particular value to teachers of economics and professional economists interested in an innovative, thought‐provoking approach to their subject and in the future of economic research as it is currently conducted in academic environments.

This chapter looks at what it means to set out to do anthropological research with tangata whenua (New Zealanders of Māori descent; literally, ‘people of the land’), from the particular perspective of a Pākehā (New Zealander of non-Māori descent – usually European) musical anthropologist with an interest in sound-made worlds. In late 2017, Lowe was awarded funding for a conjoint PhD scholarship in anthropology at James Cook University, Australia, and Aarhus University, Denmark. However, following advice from several colleagues in Aotearoa New Zealand, Lowe decided to assess the viability of the project with his prospective Māori and non-Māori collaborators prior to officially starting his PhD candidature. Throughout this process of pre-ethics (Barrett, 2016), Lowe met with both Māori and non-Māori to discuss the proposed PhD project; a ‘listening in’ to his own socio-historical positioning as a Pākehā anthropologist within contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand. This approach to anthropological research is in response to George (2017), who argues for a new politically and ethnically aware mode of anthropology that aims to (re)establish relationships of true meaning between anthropology and Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand.