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2021 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

Introduction

Author : Irene van Staveren

Published in: Alternative Ideas from 10 (Almost) Forgotten Economists

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

The Introduction explains that this book was written in response to the lack of change in economics following the 2008 financial crisis. It is a response to the absence of imagination of a noncapitalist economy and lack of interest in the rich diversity of economic thought of 250 years of history of economics and what these ideas can bring for reflecting on a postcapitalist economy. The book hopes to inspire economists and noneconomists alike to reflect on feasible economic ideas and practices for a more stable and sustainable economy.

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next chapter Chapter 1: Karl Marx on Capitalism

Critiques of this paradigm emerged as early as 1899 with Thorstein Veblen’s Theory of the Leisure Class, criticizing the hedonistic assumption of economic rationality as a lightning calculator of pleasure and pains: Thorstein Veblen, Theory of the Leisure Class. An Economic Study of Institutions, edited by B.W. Huebsch (New York: Viking, 1931 [1899]). Since then, numerous nonorthodox economists have followed suit, and the criticisms have multiplied since the 2008 financial crisis. This time with wide support from outside academia, including The Economist. But also from students, for example with a manifesto: Joe Earle, Cahal Moran and Zach Ward Perkins, The Econocracy – the Perils of Leaving Economics to the Experts (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2016). Chapter 11 of this book will discuss criticism as well as the state of the debate in economics.

Marion Fourcade, Etienne Ollion and Yann Algan, “The Superiority of Economists,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 29, 1 (2015): 89–114.

See, for example, four recent critiques of the dominant economic paradigm’s theory and practice: Ha-Joon Chang, Economics: The User’s Guide (London: Penguin, 2014); Steven Payson, How Economics Professors Can Stop Failing Us (Lanham: Lexington, 2017); Mariana Mazzucato, The Value of Everything, Making and Taking in the Global Economy (London: Penguin, 2018); David Colander and Craig Freedman, Where Economics Went Wrong: Chicago’s Abandonment of Classical Liberalism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018).

For an insightful reflection on this, see David Colander, Michael Goldberg, Armin Haas, Katarina Juselius, Alan Kurman, Thomas Lux, and Brigitte Sloth. “The Financial Crisis and the Systemic Failure of the Economics Profession,” Critical Review – A Journal of Politics and Society 21, 2–3 (2009): 249–267.

Examples of such apologies for capitalism: Deirdre McCloskey, Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006); Giacomo Corneo, Is Capitalism Obsolete? A Journey through Alternative Economic Systems (Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, 2017); Joseph Stiglitz, People, Power, and Profits. Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent (New York: W.W. Norton, 2019).

Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation (New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1944). I was so impressed by this view that I did my PhD research on the topic, tracing the three economic domains back to Adam Smith and Albert Hirschman, who each in their own way confirmed Polanyi’s view that a well-functioning economy consists of three value domains: freedom in markets, justice in the state and care in the community economy. Irene van Staveren, The Values of Economics – an Aristotelian Perspective (London: Routledge, 2001). A recent analysis of market fundamentalism based on the work of Polanyi can be found here: Fred Block and Margaret Summers, The Power of Market Fundamentalism. Karl Polanyi’s Critique (Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, 2016).

Kate Raworth, Donut Economics. Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist (New York: Random House, 2017).

Donella Meadows, Dennis Meadows, and Jørgen Randers William W. Behrens III, The Limits to Growth (Washington D.C.: Potomac Associates, 1972); UNDP, Humanity Divided. Confronting Inequality in Developing Countries (New York: United Nations Development Program, 2013); Thomas Piketty, Capital in the 21st Century (Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, 2014); Tim Jackson, Prosperity without Growth – Foundations for the Economy of Tomorrow (London: Routledge, 2017).

Pamela Abbott, Claire Wallace, and Roger Sapsford, The Decent Society – Planning for Social Quality (London: Routledge, 2016); IPSP, Rethinking Society for the 21st Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018).

William Thomson, “The Young Person’s Guide to Writing Economic Theory,” Journal of Economic Literature 37, 1 (1999): 157–183.

Rethinking Economics is an international student movement active in 15 countries: http://www.rethinkeconomics.org/. Accessed on July 15, 2020.

These networks include Promoting Economic Pluralism: https://economicpluralism.org/. Accessed on July 15, 2020. Economics for Inclusive Prosperity: https://econfip.org/. Accessed on July 15, 2020. Next to these new initiatives, there is a wide variety of long-standing heterodox economics associations, from social economics to feminist economics and from institutional economics to interdisciplinary themes, for example the capability approach and the self-management of commons by communities.

The short biographies in each chapter are compiled from various sources, including: Harry Landreth and David Colander, History of Economic Thought, 4th edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001). Steven Pressman, Fifty Major Economists, 3rd edition (London: Routledge, 2013).

Irene van Staveren, Economics after the Crisis – a Global and Pluralist Perspective (London: Routledge, 2015).

This book is a translation and revision of Irene van Staveren, Wat wij kunnen leren van economen die (bijna) niemand meer leest (Amsterdam: Boom, 2016).

Abbott, Pamela, Claire Wallace, and Roger Sapsford. The Decent Society – Planning for Social Quality. London: Routledge, 2016.CrossRef

Block, Fred, and Margaret Summers. The Power of Market Fundamentalism. Karl Polanyi’s Critique. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, 2016.

Chang, Ha-Joon. Economics: The User’s Guide. London: Penguin, 2014.

Colander, David, and Craig Freedman. Where Economics Went Wrong: Chicago’s Abandonment of Classical Liberalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018.CrossRef

Colander, David, Michael Goldberg, Armin Haas, Katarina Juselius, Alan Kurman, Thomas Lux, and Brigitte Sloth. “The Financial Crisis and the Systemic Failure of the Economics Profession.” Critical Review – A Journal of Politics and Society 21, 2–3 (2009): 249–267.

Colander, David, and Harry Landreth. History of Economic Thought, 4th edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.

Corneo, Giacomo. Is Capitalism Obsolete? A Journey through Alternative Economic Systems. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, 2017.CrossRef

Earle, Joe, Cahal Moran, and Zach Ward Perkins. The Econocracy – the Perils of Leaving Economics to the Experts. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2016.CrossRef

Fourcade, Marion, Etienne Ollion, and Yann Algan. “The Superiority of Economists.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 29, 1 (2015): 89–114.CrossRef

IPSP. Rethinking Society for the 21st Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Jackson, Tim. Prosperity without Growth – Foundations for the Economy of Tomorrow. London: Routledge, 2017.

Mazzucato, Mariana. The Value of Everything, Making and Taking in the Global Economy. London: Penguin, 2018.

McCloskey, Deirdre. Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.CrossRef

Meadows, Donella, Dennis Meadows, and Jørgen Randers William W. Behrens III. The Limits to Growth. Washington D.C.: Potomac Associates, 1972.

Payson, Steven. How Economics Professors Can Stop Failing Us. Lanham: Lexington, 2017.

Piketty, Thomas. Capital in the 21st Century. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, 2014.CrossRef

Polanyi, Karl. The Great Transformation. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1944.

Pressman, Steven. Fifty Major Economists, 3rd edition. London: Routledge, 2013.CrossRef

Raworth, Kate. Donut Economics. Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist. New York: Random House, 2017.

Staveren, Irene van. The Values of Economics – an Aristotelian Perspective. London: Routledge, 2001.

——— Economics after the Crisis – a Global and Pluralist Perspective. London: Routledge, 2015.

——— Wat wij kunnen leren van economen die (bijna) niemand meer leest. Amsterdam: Boom, 2016.

Stiglitz, Joseph. People, Power, and Profits. Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent. New York: W.W. Norton, 2019.

Thomson, William. “The Young Person’s Guide to Writing Economic Theory.” Journal of Economic Literature 37, 1 (1999): 157–183.CrossRef

UNDP. Humanity Divided. Confronting Inequality in Developing Countries. New York: United Nations Development Program, 2013.

Veblen, Thorstein. The Theory of the Leisure Class. An Economic Study of Institutions, edited by B.W. Huebsch. New York: Viking, 1931 [1899].

Title: Introduction
Author: Irene van Staveren
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: Alternative Ideas from 10 (Almost) Forgotten Economists
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-57608-0

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-57609-7

Copyright Year: 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57609-7_1