Bureau of Disruption

All schools · Other private

Duke · Economics

4.0% of Duke's Economics course descriptions are framed from the left. Across all 100 schools' Economics departments, it is 1.5%.

0%20%
Duke: 4.0% Economics at all 100 schools: 1.5% each other school in the comparison

Where Economics courses fall

6%Far left92–100
12%Left75–91
29%Center-left59–74
35%Center42–58
12%Center-right26–41
6%Right9–25
0%Far right0–8
17 plotted courses (the ones with a political subject). 100 = far left, 50 = the average American, 0 = far right. Subject places what a course studies, not the side it takes.

See it for yourself

Subject places what a course studies, not the side it takes. A course on slavery or the Holocaust lands far right and a course on Marx or the Soviet Union lands far left, whether the course praises, criticizes or simply describes it.

Furthest-left subjects

ECON174 · Financial Accounting96

Economics

Part of the Focus cluster 'It's Not Too Late to Build a Better World,' requires permission. What are the roots of the climate crisis or unparalleled inequality? This course explores big ideas as well as specific models that envision a…

See it for yourself →

ECON407 · Soviet and Post-Soviet Economic History90

Economics

This course traces economic factors leading to the downfall of the Russian Empire and the rise of the USSR, followed by an assessment of the collapse of the USSR. Particular attention is devoted to the NEP period, earlier Soviet economic…

See it for yourself →

ECON347 · African Economic Development78

Economics

Economics of gender including the status of women in the labor market; feminist economic theories; ethical considerations of gender-based inequalities; gendered division of labor within the family and between the household and labor market.…

See it for yourself →

Furthest-right subjects

ECON353 · Financial Institutions17

Economics

Topics include United States trade policies and protectionism, the North American Free Trade area, trade and economic relations with industrialized countries, policies toward developing countries and multilateral institutions, macroeconomic…

See it for yourself →

ECON255S · Shakespeare & Financial Markets: Why This Time is Never Different33

Economics

Examination of how capitalism has profoundly shaped people's ethical values, with focus on United States. Investigates central developments behind history of capitalism; explores key struggles that led to formation of capitalist logic…

See it for yourself →

ECON311 · History of Economic Thought38

Economics

A seminar focused on the writings of Adam Smith, including close readings of The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and selections from Mandeville, Hutcheson, Hume, Quesnay, Turgot, and Bentham. Focus on…

See it for yourself →

Why this number, in plain words

Share of courses described from the left. Percent of all courses in the group whose Framing reading is leftward: the description frames its subject one-sidedly to the left.

Counted: all courses in the group, including N and I. No interval is published for this number.

  • Readings are of catalog description text, not of teaching, syllabi or individual professors.
Details: exact rows, definitions and method
NameMetricValue95% intervalnscored
Duke · Economicsbias_left_share4.0—101—
Economicsbias_left_share1.51.3 – 1.88,432—
Formula
100 * count(bias_cat = 'L') / n
Interval
Wilson score 95% (wilson_interval)
Model / prompt / snapshot
gpt-5.6-sol · r12 (2026-10-16-le49-r12) · 6df50b10
Metric caveats
Right-framed courses are almost absent (33 of 124,290); this run cannot tell catalog reality from model sensitivity. Compare schools with adjusted_ratio, not this raw share, because department mix differs.

Ask a question about Duke · Make a school card