The Economic Research Council, Britain's oldest economics-based think tank, 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. 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. Today, the Economic Research Council 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.