High School Courses
For students
In the early 1990’s, ICSEP held workshops and courses with grants from George Soros’ Foundation “The Open Society” for over 9,000 young immigrants from the former Soviet Union. ICSEP helped them integrate into a western-style economy.
In the mid-nineties, at the request of the Ministry of Education, ICSEP held enrichment courses for high school economics teachers to bring them up to date on new developments in the field.
Since 1998, ICSEP has been holding classes in economics in several Israeli high schools in which over 2,000 students have participated to date. In order to make the lessons attractive ICSEP produced a series of short films that are episodes from the students’ lives that illustrate economic issues. As a result of the great enthusiasm shown by students for these classes, additional school principals have asked to have the courses open in their schools. We have many schools waiting and need additional resources to meet the demand.
The courses teach the students basic economic concepts and theories as they impact on their daily lives and on their career prospects. The courses are made relevant by the use of examples from the students’ own experiences and from what is happening in the Israeli economy. The students also acquire skills in public speaking and self-expression.
The courses integrate varied materials from the world of business, financial markets, communications, and developments in the Israeli and world economies. The students also participate in at least one field trip to Israeli enterprises.
Other programs
policy-makers
-
ICSEP regularly initiates research projects on major issues of the day.
Some research has also been done in cooperation with other bodies, such as the International Center of Economic Growth (on Political Business Cycles, published in Public Choice, 1992), and the Koret Foundation (on Small Businesses in Israel).
-
ICSEP regularly undertakes original studies in order to prepare detailed reform plans for Israel’s policy-makers.
In the mid-1980s ICSEP laid the groundwork for the anti-inflationary policies that proved so successful and for the privatized immigrant absorption policies that enabled the successful integration of the vast majority of immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
students
-
The only Israeli university students who study market economics are those majoring or minoring in Economics, and even they mostly study economic techniques, not philosophy.
Since 2000, ICSEP has offered a seminar at Tel Aviv, the Hebrew, and Ben-Gurion universities entitled “The Free Market and its Critics” based on Milton and Rose Friedman’s Free to Choose book and films.
opinion-shapers
-
ICSEP periodically brings leading foreign experts to Israel to share their knowledge and experiences.
ICSEP’s distinguished guests have included Nobel laureates, senior diplomats, Supreme Court judges, renowned editors and prominent businessmen.
-
ICSEP organizes seminars and conferences for decision-makers on such topics as deregulation, privatization, tax and capital market reform, immigrant absorption, housing, small business development, and pension fund, labor market and healthcare reform.
Attended by thousands and discussed in hundreds of media items, ICSEP seminars have profoundly affected public discourse on economics in Israel.
-
Organizations
-
ICSEP serves as a clearinghouse of economic expertise, knowledge and resources and as a facilitator for groups and organizations such as the Israel Chambers of Commerce, universities, the Israel Supreme Court’s Institute for Judicial Studies, and the Israel Management Institute.
the Israeli public
-
ICSEP has translated seminal works into Hebrew, such as Milton and Rose Friedman’s Free to Choose and James D. Gwartney and Richard L. Stroup’s What Everyone Should Know about Economics and Prosperity.
Recent courses
Nation's first protest against banking monopoly
26 May ’04
25 May ’04
Over 6,000 students taught
25 May ’04
