Today’s Observer carries some hugely encouraging news:

Economics is a must study for students in recession

A surge in sixth-formers applying to study economics at university is being attributed to the global recession awakening a public thirst for knowledge about how the financial system works. Applications for degree courses beginning this autumn or next were up by 15% this January, according to UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. A spokesman for the Royal Economic Society said applications to do economics at GCSE and A-level were also up

Interest in the Royal Economic Society’s annual essay competition for sixth form economists is very strong this year. There is still more than a month before the final deadline for entries to be submitted. Here are the main details.

Much more here

And here - The crunch chronicles: ten books that try to make sense of global chaos