Eric Beinhocker delivers keynote lecture at New Economies Conference;
Oxford professor discusses what might emerge as a new economic paradigm after neoliberalism

INET Oxford Executive Director Eric Beinhocker delivered a keynote lecture at this year's New Economies Conference in Bonn, Germany.

Speaking to delegates at the beginning of the second day of the conference, the Oxford professor discussed what might emerge as a new economic paradigm after neoliberalism, one that can not only create an economy that is fair, resilient and regenerative, but also help repair the social contract and heal divisions in democracies around the world.

The lecture provided a preview of a forthcoming book co-authored with the entrepreneur and philanthropist Nick Hanauer, which has been summarised in the policy booklet 'Markets Built for Humans' which is available for download.

The New Economies Gathering, held between 12-13 October 2026 in Bonn, Germany, is an annual global event hosted by Partners for a New Economy.

Paradigm vacuum 'filled by populism'

In his lecture, Beinhocker reflected on how the end of each of the four major paradigms of the 20th Century, provided an opening for the next.

Laissez-Faire Capitalism (18th Century to 1820s), Marxist Socialism (1910s-1980s); Keynesianism (1930s-1970s) shaped the world and the lives of billions of people. Neoliberalism (1970s-2010s) has had a similar impact, dramatically shaping problems, ideas, evidence and policies, and filtering them into measures considered positive for the economy and those seen as trade-offs.

However the end of the neoliberal consensus has left a vacuum in its wake - a gap which, Beinhocker pointed out, populism has temporarily filled.

Cooperation as the engine of human progress

Outlining an emerging paradigm, which he called market humanism, Beinhocker’s lecture laid out three components critical to defining a coherent economic framework: moral values, scientific explanations, and normative implications.

The lecture argued that it is only by replacing the entirety of this ‘paradigm stack’ that change can be achieved. This however, is a process that could be fulfilled by research from across new economic thinking.

The tenets of Beinhocker and Hanauer’s market humanism are based on an economy built to serve human flourishing and an economics based on 21st century science, where cooperating at scale and building knowledge drives human progress.

Find out more by watching back the lecture, or visiting the Market humanism project page.

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Photos from Eric Beinhocker's Keynote Lecture at the New Economies Gathering, held between 12-13 October 2026 in Bonn, Germany. Photo Credit Ibra Wane.