ECONOMICS' TWO METHODS

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "ECONOMICS' TWO METHODS"

Transcription

1 ECONOMICS' TWO METHODS Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira Paper to be presented at the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy XVth Annual Conference, Maastricht, November 7-10, Abstract. Economic theory deals with a complex reality, which may be seen through various perspectives, using different methods. Economics three major branches development economics, macroeconomics, and microeconomics cannot be unified because the former two use preferentially a historical-deductive, while the later, an essentially hypothetical-deductive or aprioristic method. While Smith, Marx and Keynes used the new historical facts method to develop their major theories, Walras adopted an aprioristic one to devise the neoclassical general equilibrium model. The historical-deductive method looks for the new historical facts that shape up the new economic reality, and only then develops the stylized facts or the economic model that generalizes the problem. Thus, economic theory remains central, but it is more modest, or less general, as the economist is content to develop short term macroeconomic models and long term growth models in the framework of a given historical phase or moment of the economic process. As a trade off, his models are more realistic and conducive to more effective economic policies, as long as he is not required to previously abandon, one by one, the unrealistic assumptions required by a excessively general theory, but already starts from more realistic ones. Classical development economics, founded by Smith and Ricardo, had in Marx and Schumpeter its two major followers. 1 Neoclassical theory represented a fundamental contribution to economic theory when Jevons, Menger, and Walras developed the marginalist approach, when this latter conceived the general equilibrium model, and 1 Smith, 1776; Ricardo, 1817/21; Marx, 1867, 1894; Schumpeter, Schumpeter is mentioned here as the historical, evolutionary economist, not as the neoclassical economist he intended to be. His fundamental contributions owe everything to a historical perspective, and little to the neoclassical view. Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira teaches and researches economics at the São Paulo School of Economics of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation. bresserpereira@uol.com.br This paper was written based on the course of Scientific Methodology for Economists that I teach since My special thanks to my students in this course, and particularly to José Márcio Rego, who is dividing with me the responsibility for it in the last few years. I am grateful for his comments, and for those of Adam Przeworski, Alain Herscovici, Gilberto Tadeu Lima, Marcos Ribeiro Ferrari, Paulo Gala, Robert Nicol, Solange Marin, Victoria Chick and Yoshiaki Nakano.

2 when Marshall gave a certain practicality to microeconomics. 2 Finally, macroeconomics, founded by Keynes and Kalecki, which eventually turned economic theory into an actual economic policy tool, had in Harrod, Hicks and Minsky its most important followers. 3 When I refer to three major schools of Economics the classical, the neoclassical, and the Keynesian one and when I see in them three major contributions, how can I be coherent? As long as those three theories present conflicts between them, wouldn't I be forced, for reasons of methodological rigor or logical consistency, to adopt only one of them and to reject the others? Although these are good questions, the answer becomes relatively simple if we reject, as I do, the existence of any great all-encompassing theory for Economics or, more broadly, for social sciences. 4 We have three major economic theories, which, albeit not consistent among themselves, explain, one better than the others, certain aspects of the economic system. The neoclassical school studies explain better than any other, the equilibrium of an abstract market economy; the classical school is second to none in analyzing and showing the stylized facts of capitalism's development; the Keynesian school is by far the one that better explains the short-term functioning of the major economic aggregates, and the one that offers the best instruments to conduct macroeconomic policy. Therefore, it would not be scientific for me to reject two of them and keep only one, just for reasons of comprehensive consistency. Keynes was a pragmatic economist. Contrarily to what did most of his followers, he did not try to develop a fully alternative view to classical or neoclassical economics. He was more concerned in developing a theory able to solve practical problems. For him, uncertainty and non-ergodicity characterized economic systems. Defined an ergodic system as the one which, given sufficient time, include or impinge on all points in a giving space, 5 I share with him the inutility of searching for a unitary and fully consistent view of how economies work. I am satisfied with a less comprehensive consistency. Does it mean we have not one, but three truths in Economics? There is only one truth, which lies in the reality of the economic relations that human beings establish among themselves, not in the ideas that are the form through which we express it. Truth is not transcendental it lies not in the ideas themselves, nor instrumental it doesn't depend on the use we give it, nor relative: it doesn't depend on who sees it or how it is seen. Our truth may be so, but this only suggests the difficulty in finding out the truth. The fact that it is difficult to figure out the 2 3 Jevons, ; Menger, 1872; Walras, 1874/1900; Marshall, 1890/ Keynes, 1936; Hicks, 1937; Harrod, 1939; Minsky, 1975, Bresser-Pereira, Concise Oxford Dictionary, tenth edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999). 2

3 truth doesn't justify relativism, it only justifies modesty in stating the truth, and forbearance with respect to the other's truth. However, the truth regarding the functioning of economic systems may be legitimately seen from different angles. There are at least three possible approaches: the abstract and static one of the general equilibrium model; the dynamic, long-term, historical approach, of development economics; and the historical, short-term approach, of the cyclic fluctuation and macroeconomic stabilization. Seen from each one of those perspectives, the economic system loses some of its inherent complexity, because observation becomes partial by definition, but it still remains extremely complex for those who observe it. Why not unify the three theories? Why not try to find the microfoundations of macroeconomics this Holy Grail searched by so many theoretical economists? Several answers have already been given to this question: from simple ones such as that microeconomics deals with the behavior of individual economic agents, while macroeconomics deals with economic aggregates to more complex ones, usually related to an ontological opposition between methodological individualism and holistic conceptions of society and economic system. My answer is somewhat related to the second type, but it is essentially different to the extent that it doesn't challenge the legitimacy of methodological individualism or of the hypotheticaldeductive method that follows it, and even less the legitimacy of methodological holism or of historical-deductive method, but, in a deliberately eclectic way, it accepts both methods, which could be more or less useful depending on how we view a given social reality, and which could be certainly combined, in many cases. Consequently, it accepts the existence of three major theories, and refuses to reduce one to the other. In the first section of this paper I will discuss the coexistence of those two methods. In the second one, I will examine more accurately the hypotheticaldeductive method, which is used by the general equilibrium theory and, more broadly, by the whole neoclassical theory. The third one will be dedicated to the historical-deductive method or method of the new historical fact, which is proper to development economics and to macroeconomics. In the fourth one, I will discuss the dangers involved in the use of an abstract hypothetical-deductive method to guide concrete economic policies. Two Methods For the theories derived from the historical approach development economics and macroeconomics the economic system is much more complex than presumes the general equilibrium unhistorical approach. It is more complex because the studied reality varies from place to place, from culture to culture, and above all it varies in 3

4 time. Whereas the central microeconomic model is deterministic and closed, the historical models of macroeconomics and economic development are relatively indeterminist and open. Reality varies as a result of the new historical facts, of technological, institutional, or political character, which produce historical discontinuities in different degrees, requiring that explanatory theories be amended, adapted, or even completely renewed. It is impossible, therefore, to reduce macroeconomics and development economics to the microeconomics of general equilibrium, because whereas the first two make use of a primarily empirical or historical-deductive method, which I suggest to call the method of the new historical fact, the third one uses a radically aprioristic method from the perspective of methodological individualism. 6 Both methods are legitimate. The primarily hypothetical-deductive or aprioristic method led to the appearance of both the general equilibrium model and the partial equilibrium model of a market economy, while the method of new historical fact made it possible to formulate both the classical model of economic development and the macroeconomic model. There is no reason to be confined to one or the other. We have great economists who dedicated themselves mainly to one method or the other, and they were great because they did it well. Sometimes, they realized that the use of both models led to contradictions, but they were great enough and this was typically the case with Marx, Schumpeter and Keynes to live their contradictions instead of attempting to impose comprehensive and absolutely consistent theories. The key assumption of economic theory in general, and not only of neoclassical theory, is the rationality of agents. Even though economists know that economic agents not always act rationally, maximizing their interests, I will not argue here the validity of the homo economicus assumption that economic agents are rational. This is a 'reasonable' assumption for the economic theory as a whole more reasonable than for other social sciences, such as political science. In much the same way as economists begin with the assumption of perfect competition, they also must begin with the assumption of rationality, in order to later be able to relax both assumptions. There is, however, a fundamental difference in this process of relaxing assumptions. Since microeconomics essentially uses the hypothetical-deductive unhistorical method for thinking, the assumptions of rationality and perfect competition are at the basis of all models, and there is a theoretical and practical difficulty in relaxing them. Yet in macroeconomics and in the development economics, there are different ways of thinking and researching. Economists work 6 I have initially developed this idea in a paper in which, however, it ended up only being sketched (Bresser-Pereira e Lima, 1995). Besides widely developing the discussion of the two methods, in the present paper I changed to more adequate names. I substituted historical-deductive for historical-inductive, and hypothetical-deductive for logicaldeductive. I only eliminated a tautological element that impaired the previous denominations; I also made it clear that the historical method to which I refer is deductive, as every theory-building process is. 4

5 with historical models in which those assumptions have been already duly abandoned, or may be easily suspended as long as the economist is not attached to a general and comprehensive rationality system. The coexistence of two methods is not particular to economic theory. It also exists in philosophy and in political science. Although there was the abstract precedent of Plato, the classical thinkers, from Aristotle, think politics primarily in practical and historical-deductive terms. This is the case with Maquiavel, Vico, Hegel, Marx, and the American pragmatists. The state was seen as the result of a historical evolution, as the outcome of a process of increasing division of labor, of the passage from the tribe to the clan, the village, the city, the nation, the city-state, and the empire. However, with Hobbes and contractualism a radically new perspective arises. The state is logically deduced from the theoretical assumption of the existence of a state of nature, in which war between all men was the sole reality, and from the decision of men, at a certain point, of establishing a contract through which they renounced their original freedom in favour of a legal order imposed by the State. It doesn't matter whether the state of nature had an example in history, nor whether it was possible to find the moment when free men and women decided to exchange their freedom for the protection of a sovereign. Contractualism made it possible to logically deduce the state from society; the monarch's legitimacy rooted in tradition was replaced by a new politics arising from the social contract. As Italians say, si non è vero, è bene trovato. Even if, with his theory, Hobbes intended to strengthen the power of the absolute monarch, what he and his great enlightened successors did was open the way to citizenship. By legitimating the king by the citizens agreement, he established an even greater rational basis of legitimacy for the citizen himself. Contractualism, albeit unrealistic, set up powerful normative bases for the future political development of the nation-states. Whereas the historical-deductive thinker can only arrive at liberalism, and later at democracy, from the analysis of political and social events and struggles, and from the logic to which those events somehow obey, the hypothetical-deductive theorist hopes to infer the logic of those events by using only the reason to which he presumes the agents obey. Afterwards, in the second half of the nineteenth century, when the hypothetical-deductive model of general equilibrium is developed by economists, it already had the social contract theory as its precedent. Later still, already in the second half of the twentieth century, when the rational choice theory, of an essentially hypothetical nature, appears in political science, its basis will be the neoclassical microeconomics. I am a critic of such a theory when, according to its founder, Anthony Downs, it radically presumes that political agents behave like economic agents trying to maximize their personal interests, and establishes a perfect analogy between market and politics. 7 Yet, in the study of real economy 7 Downs,

6 conducted by macroeconomics and by development economics, after situating the problems in the historical realm and trying to find the regularities that would allow to define stylized facts and theoretical models, I believe it is desirable to submit the model to the criticism of rational motivations; likewise, I believe that this procedure can be used by the political scientist. He should only take into account, as suggested by Elster, that his concept of rationality should be broader, including public interest issues, since the laws that rule the market are not the same as those that govern the forum. 8 On the other hand, it is important not to fall in a typical mistake associated with the hypothetic-deductive method: determinism. The assumption that it is enough to have the initial conditions defined to know which will be the consequences is as attractive as false in social sciences. According to Prigogine, methodological determinism is timeless, implying perfect or logical causality. 9. Thus, economic variables are conditioned by the initial conditions. Non-predict irregularities arising from the actual historical processes are ignored: there is not path dependence. 10 There is nothing further from this than the kind of reasoning that the one I am trying to develop here. Economic science works, therefore, with two methods. Only in the case of more general and abstract theories, such as the general equilibrium, or Sraffa s production of commodities by means of commodities theory, the precedence and the dominance belong to the aprioristic method. These theories, however, are already developed, and there is little to do to beyond. In contrast, with macroeconomics and development economics, the fundamental research method is the historical fact method, that also uses deduction, but begins with the analysis of reality. The macroeconomist analyzes the real economy an economy that exists here and now and is in constant change. His search for microfoundations, using primarily a hypothetical-deductive instrumental, should happen at a subsequent time, so that the explanatory mechanisms of the observed macroeconomic relations could be established. The hypothetical-deductive method of neoclassical theory The hypothetical-deductive method that neoclassical theory intends to use in an exclusive way is essentially aprioristic. In order to think his greater theory that of the general equilibrium the microeconomist sits in his armchair, assumes that the economic agent maximizes his economic interests, and from this simple assumption 8 Elster, Prigogine, See Prigogine s ideas applied to economics in Ferrari,

7 he deduces logically and mathematically his whole model. Since his assumption is a reasonable approach of the reality of economic behavior, and since he works at a high level of abstraction, the results he attains are interesting: they succeed in developing a highly abstract theory that is able to predict an as well abstract economic behavior. So abstract and so general, however, that it represents a danger when it comes to predicting complex behaviors, such as the ones involved in macroeconomic policy and development policy. There is a vast economic literature that questions the homo economicus assumption. Although this assumption doesn't apply to political and social behavior, because in these areas human beings take into consideration other goals besides those related to the maximization of personal interests, it reasonably applies to economic behavior, which is relatively less complex. Therefore, from my point of view, it is not this assumption that sets the limits to the neoclassical general equilibrium theory a theory which I regard as a great achievement of human thought. Such limits derive from the method it uses. General equilibrium theory is the most radically hypothetical-deductive theory that I have knowledge among the substantive theories that try to describe reality (as opposed to methodological ones, such as mathematics and statistics). It was built from an analogy with physics, but it is even more hypothetical-deductive than this already so mathematical science and, therefore, submitted to a primarily hypothetic-deductive reasoning. Even though a good portion of the physicist's research effort is employed in deducing theories, this work is committed to the observation of reality, and he is always building more and more powerful and exact equipment to assist him in his empirical research. In the general equilibrium model there is no commitment to reality. It is the reality that should adapt to the model. Even if this doesn't happen, the model will not be considered wrong, or in need of modifications: there will only be a disturbing factor of the model's assumptions, such as a monopoly power, an externality, a path dependency, an information asymmetry. Despite Friedman's attempt to demonstrate that economics is a positive science, since it is able to predict, the neoclassical economic science for which he was claiming this positivism is actually not positive it is purely hypotheticaldeductive. Its predictive ability is real only at an extremely high level of abstraction. 11 This is not an overstatement. All we have to do is read Mises, one of the more remarkable supporters of this approach, for whom economic science, as opposed to historical science, is essentially an aprioristic praxeology. Whereas history would be the systematic arrangement of all the data of experience concerning human action, the scope of praxeology, among which lies the economic science, is the explication of the category of human action. All that is needed for the deduction of all 11 Friedman,

8 praxeological theorems is knowledge of the essence of human action... Now, Mises adds, this essence is logical, or rational and immutable. Accordingly, he goes ahead, only methodological apriorism and methodological individualism are applicable to economic science, because only economics accounts for the immutability and universality of the categories of thought and action... The end of science is to know reality... However, this reference to experience does not impair the aprioristic character of praxeology and economics. Experience merely directs our curiosity toward certain problems and diverts it from other problems... There are no such things as a historical method of economics or a discipline of institutional economics. And, Mises concludes, the fundamental logical relations are not subject to proof or disproof. 12 Although it intends to be very general as long as it is extraordinarily abstract, the neoclassical microeconomics is a partial achievement. It views economic system only from one angle, as an unfleshed, unspatial and unhistorical market economy. However, mathematicians and physicists in particular, and mathematic spirits, in general, are fascinated when introduced to this theory. As it is true to all sciences, the simpler the better. And, mathematical formalization may be a good tool to achieve such simplification. However, as opposed to what think most orthodox economists, devoted to the development of a normal science, formalization cannot be confused with scientific work itself. In economics, as in any other science, the most important work is to observe the new economic facts, connect them with the other social and political facts, develop new ideas, new explanations; in a second moment, to develop models as simple as possible; and finally to look for empirical justification for them. Formalization is a mere expedient to facilitate never to complicate the communication of the model. 13 The fascination caused by neoclassical microeconomics derives mostly from the perfect rationality syndrome that characterizes bureaucratic thought. For aristocracy honor was the paramount value; for the bourgeoisie, freedom; and for 12 Mises, 1949/1966: 30, 34,-35, Mises is not exactly a neoclassical economist in the strict sense of the word, but from the Austrian school of Menger and Hayek. In a broader sense, however, which I am using here, the Austrian school participates of and represents a fundamental contribution to neoclassical thought. Mises' rigorous apriorism is the only one compatible with the general equilibrium theory, but, given the empirical traditions of English economists, and the pragmatic traditions of American economists, it is difficult for economists of such an origin, who dominate economic theory, to understand the principles and method they adopt. 13 The assumption that formalization is an indispensable condition to economic thought is adopted even by neoclassical economists who don't limit themselves to do normal science. This is the case with Krugman (1999), for instance, who didn't hesitate in stating that the true scientific work of inserting externalities in the theory of economic development through the big-push model one of the central models of the theory of economic development was not performed by Rosenstein-Rodan (1943), who created it, but by Murphy, Shleifer and Vishny (1989), who formalized it. 8

9 workers, equality, while for bureaucrats of all kinds, including intellectuals, reason is the central value. Legitimacy is achieved through reason, specifically through the search for comprehensive and perfectly consistent formal models. They ignore or underestimate the world's complexity, and they feel powerfully attracted by a theory that derives from the existence of market competition logically optimal results regarding allocation of resources. On the other hand, the freedom presumed for the good functioning of the markets is used by neoclassical theory as an ideological instrument at the service of an entrepreneurial liberal class that still feels obliged to demonstrate the superiority of market economies over state-owned economies or command economies, although this is already clear for economists of all schools. While market freedom attracts the bourgeoisie, market rationality expressed in models attracts bureaucrats. Is not legitimate to identify neoclassical economic theory either with the ideology of technocratic reason, or with capitalist and neo-liberal ideology, although it is difficult to be fully neoclassical without being technocratic and neo-liberal, as it is also difficult to be Keynesian and not to be social-democratic or social-liberal. In the 1970s, when the crisis of the Welfare State or social-democratic state took place, and the neo-liberal wave gained strength, also the neoclassical vision of economy, which had retreated with the Keynesian revolution, became dominant again, and sought to encompass and subordinate macroeconomics and development economics. More recently, however, when the consecutive financial crises of the 1990s and the low growth rates almost everywhere weakened the neo-liberal wave, while, at the same time, anomalies accumulated over the capacity of neoclassical theories to explain reality and over the effectiveness of neoclassical policymaking, it became clear again for an ever increasing number of economists that the vindication of a sole method and of a sole economic theory was unacceptable. Neoclassical economics and its mathematical optimization system once again lose part of its brilliance, despite the fascination it exerts on the admirers of pure theories. One of the signs of the model's loss of persuasive power was the invasion of microeconomics textbooks by game theory. For two reasons: First, because game theory is a theory of decision under uncertainty, and, in pure neoclassical theory, there is no space for decision: the agents always maximize, always choose the optimal alternative. Second, for the inverse reason: because, with the adoption of game theory, general equilibrium theory would be losing its status of a general system for understanding a substantive market economic system, to constitute part of a decision theory. Its founding act would no longer be the works of Walras, Jevons and Menger, but rather those of Newmann and Morgenstern. 14 According to 14 Walras, ; Jevons, ; Menger, 1872; Newmann and Morgenstern,

10 Habermas, it would be possible to understand economic theory as a specific theory of decision, concerning situations of economic choice. 15 Brief, the neoclassical theory, using an essentially aprioristic method, is useful to understand the abstract functioning of a market system. However, when the problem is to understand the dynamics of a capitalist system, classical theory, which came out to understand the capitalist revolution, offers better instruments of analysis. On the other hand, when it comes to understanding the problems of stabilization and employment, Keynesian macroeconomics is better equipped to deal with those problems. Both theories adopt a primarily historical-deductive method. The historical-deductive method or method of the new historical fact The most general alternative to the neoclassical method of starting from equilibrium and efficient markets towards the analysis of complex economic realities would undoubtedly be to abandon those assumptions and try to do a more realistic analysis. In this case, however, it is not yet possible to talk about the use of a historicaldeductive method or method of the new historical fact. For this to occur, it is necessary that the observer identify the new historical facts that changed the previous reality, which the previous theory explained or tried to explain. Once identified those new facts that made necessary a new model, the researcher searches empirically the new regularities that should have emerged, asks himself about the rational motivations of the new behaviors, and would then be in a position to build the new theory and test it. Such regularities are, by definition, historical, and are related to a set of conventions and institutions, which give meaning to them. 16 Thus, in building the explanatory models, the researcher would have to include such conventions, routines, or institutions. The historical-deductive method that classical economists used in order to analyze the capitalist revolution and the logic of a market-coordinated economy, and that Keynesian macroeconomists originally employed to explain the cyclical fluctuations, started from the observation of the new historical facts, which involve ruptures or discontinuities, with the acknowledgment of the new resultant regularities, and with the analysis of the logical connections between economic variables. The homo economicus assumption is still present, but in the background. It is only after observing the new regularities and connecting them logically that the macroeconomist and the development economist will look for the rational 15 Habermas, 1967: We know the relevance that Keynes gave to conventions. Since the 1980s institutions became a must in social sciences. Economists and other social scientists realized that it is impossible to understand society and the economy without considering formal and informal law. 10

11 explanations of behaviors: will connect behaviors with the interests. Only then will they ask, on a case-by-case basis, what are the relevant social mechanisms mentioned by Elster. 17 Undoubtedly, we may and we must, whenever possible, find the social mechanisms. This will give a greater consistency to the theories developed by the economists. But this search cannot be confused with the presumption that they have already been found, that is proper to the general equilibrium theory. This search should be made ad hoc, after the observation of the economic phenomenon, since the researcher will begin his quest by observing the historical reality, past or present, will search in it the distinctive features, the stylized facts, and the regularities. And from this observation, he will generalize and develop his model. The macroeconomist and the development economist, therefore, will primarily use the method of the new historical fact, which goes from the observation of regularities towards generalization. It is a historical-deductive method, that develops a whole set of deductions from the observation of reality. It is a holistic method which presumes that the whole is not the simple sum of its parts; that between the elements of a whole are established relations, synergies, positive and negative externalities, which give the social phenomena their specificity. Once the researcher is able to understand the new regularities, he will search the rational motivations behind the observed behavior, in order to give them consistency. In this process, he will begin with induction, but he will combine it systematically with deduction. It is well known that induction and deduction are two intrinsically complementary methods: one is impossible without the other. Yet, while hypothetical-deductive method corresponds to logical time, the inductivedeductive method deals with the historical time. 18 Thus, my claim is that it is possible to distinguish schools of thought according to the method which is preferentially used. Neoclassical economics is dominantly hypothetical-deductive, while macroeconomics and development economics prioritize the historicaldeductive method. The new historical facts may have different natures. Generally they will be either technological innovations, or institutional innovations, or political revolutions. They may, on the other hand, have different depths. One thing is the new tectonic fact represented by Capitalist Revolution. Another thing are the technological changes represented by the First, the Second, and the Third Industrial Revolutions, which occurred respectively in the late eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, and required significant corrections in the theory. Another thing still is a technological change or a specific institutional change whose effect in the change of economic models is much smaller. Likewise, institutional reforms and political 17 Elster, I owe this observation to Alain Herscovici. 11

12 revolutions may have different depths and repercussions. The Capitalist Revolution, which encompassed the three kinds of innovations, permitted the very appearance of economic theory, more specifically of classical development economics. Keynesian macroeconomics, however, would have to wait. It would be difficult to think of such a theory in the setting of a nineteenth century liberal state, whose expenditures were around 5 to 10 percent of the GDP, and in which workers' unions had no importance. Major economic changes led to equally significant changes in economic theory. There are, however, smaller and more localized historical facts, of primarily institutional but also of technological nature that call for new models. President Nixon's decision of ending dollar convertibility, which had consequences for open macroeconomics is a good example; another example is the formal and informal indexation which took place in some countries in the 1970s and 1980s leading to the formulation of the theory of inertial inflation. 19 In the method of the new historical fact, the economist may think that capitalist development goes through phases or stages, defined according to different levels of abstraction, and that for every stage it is necessary to have a somewhat different theory. Vercelli compared the macroeconomic models of Keynes and Lucas. Whereas this latter's research program ended up being merely reductionist a reduction of macroeconomics to Walrasian microeconomics Keynes founded macroeconomics and gave it a permanently autonomous nature as long as he developed a new method or a new way of thinking economic problems. According to the author, the heuristic model developed by Keynes in the General Theory starts from the acknowledgement of the enormous complexity and non-homogeneity of a modern monetary economy, and leads to the development of models characterized by a basic indetermination and by a structural instability. 20 In other words, a modern monetary economy, according to Dow, is an open system, that is, a system in which not all the constituent variables and structural relationships are known or knowable, and thus the bondaries of the system are not known or knowable. 21 The method that is able to produce models for this kind of system, in which instability and uncertainty are heavily present the method that Keynes used is the historicaldeductive method. When the macroeconomists or the policymakers use this method they don't work with certainties, they do not apply ready-made models, but take into account all the variables and models available, and makes decisions, that is, chooses in a setting of uncertainty. Once the economist developed a model using the method of the new historical fact, he may try to reduce the degree of uncertainty of such model through 19 Bresser-Pereira and Nakano, 1983; Resende and Arida, 1984; Lopes, For a survey of the theory of inertial inflation, see Bresser-Pereira, Vercelli, Dow, 1996:

13 the search for rational microfoundations. This search gives the model consistency. This heuristic strategy is somewhat similar to the methodological distinction made by Weber between understanding and explanation. The social scientist should first try to understand the social economic phenomena, find their regularities, their distinctive features, adopting an essentially historical analysis that leads him to the definition of stylized facts and their logical connections. Afterwards, however, or even at the same time, he should formulate explanatory theories for which there should be rational motivations. 22 Finally, as a consequence of the generalization of historical regularities, and of their rational explanations, we arrive at a model, which, even if it doesn't intend to be absolutely general, intends however to be abstract enough to constitute a scientific theory. It is therefore necessary not to mistake this kind of methodological approach for the historicist school of Schmoller and Weber. They didn't reject the theory, they even admitted the possibility of defining laws from the analysis of regularities, but they saw narrow limits for the development of theoretical models of the type produced today by a historical-deductive approach as the one I present here. 23 There are, however, significant contact points between the method of the new historical fact and the historical method Weber adopted. In studying economic laws, Weber didn't define laws in the narrow sense used by natural sciences, but as adequate causal relationships. The aim of political economy is the knowledge of the historical phenomena in their concretness the most general laws, because they are most devoid of content, are also the least valuable. 24 It is also necessary not to mistake the method of the new historical fact for the search for a theory of economic change as proposed by Nelson and Winter. 25 The critique that they make to neoclassical economics is the fact that it doesn't account 22 Weber, 1922: Chapter 1. Habermas (1967: 19) studies this methodological approach of Weber and remembers that Weber begins his 1922 book stating that: sociology is a science which attempts the interpretive understanding of social action in order thereby to arrive at a causal explanation of its course and effects. And Habermas (1967: 19) summarizes his methodological vision of Weber stating that: Weber analyzed particularly the articulation between explanation and understanding... The general theories make it possible to deduce hypotheses related to the empirical regularities. Those hypothetical laws have an explanatory function. Unlike natural processes, however, the regularities of social action have the characteristic of being understandable. Social actions belong to the class of intentional actions, which we grasp by reconstructing their meaning. 23 I don't believe that Schumpeter 3 (1959, vol 3: 80) had been unfair towards Schmoller when he states that this latter used a conceptual apparatus, but theorized weakly. According to Schefold's observation (1987: 257), Schmoller s main work, the Gundrisse, remained rather traditional in its theoretical part the treatment of value and price was not too far away from mainstream neoclassical economics. 24 Weber, 1906: Nelson and Winter,

14 for the processes of economic change. Therefore they propose in replacement an evolutionary theory. My main criticism to the neoclassical economic theory is simpler and more common: it lacks realism, for it is too general, and, by trying to explain all the economic processes, it ends up not adequately explaining none. And my alternative proposition is the method of the new facts, which make it possible for the economist to identify the peculiar characteristics of the phase or historical moment under analysis and for which an explanatory model is necessary. The quest is also for a theory of change, but I acknowledge the enormous difficulty that economic theory, and, more broadly, all social sciences face in explaining change. The starting point in the method of historical new fact is the assumption of imperfect markets. When markets are perfect, there is nothing new to analyze, and no policy needs to be proposed. Secondly, the definition of the new historical facts is invariably necessary. The problem may have existed for a long time and not been solved, but even in this case, there will be the new fact, since the new fact is defined as the one that modified reality, created new constraints or new liberties for economic action, and thus required new theories to account for reality. The new fact in the realm of social sciences gives birth to the problem to be solved on the scientific and practical level. In most cases the solution of the problem will not only be the product of a brilliant mind, but of a group of people thinking and debating that problem. This will be a fundamental debate in order to define the problem, find a reasonable explanatory model for it, and, finally, scientifically validate it through the consensus of the peers. Validation will depend on research - usually econometric research. Yet, results of such researches are often disappointing. Causes and consequences are not clearly distinguished. For each problem, econometric evidence is usually found to justify opposite theories. When time series are involved, the researcher almost invariably uses all the data available, not distinguishing historical phases or stages, not taking into consideration historical discontinuity, ignoring crucial moments that change the economic problem being studied. According to the method of the new historical fact, econometric research must start from assumptions about such historical discontinuities in order to make sense. 26 Besides econometric test, it is important to use the test deriving from the model's practical use in forecasting and formulating economic policy. There is no better validation for an economic theory than the possibility of deriving reliable predictions from it. Or the possibility of deducing from it economic policies which, in practice, prove to be effective. In Brazil, for instance, the Plano Real which ended 26 Not ignoring that in some cases a continuous change may eventually imply also a discontinuity. 14

15 with high and chronic inflation in 1994 was based on a clear theory which was convincingly validated by the plan's success. Neither the aprioristic method of neoclassical economics, nor the method of the new historical fact is relativist, since they assume the possibility of reaching truth through analysis and empirical research. However, whereas the hypotheticaldeductive method is philosophically connected to an idealistic and neopositivist perspective, the method of the new historical fact is realistic. To deserve this attribute, it is essential to use realistic assumptions and to search for new historical facts, it is important to perform rational validation a posteriori, and it is necessary to have empirical corroboration through research and correct predictions. Furthermore, when the theory allows the formulation of efficient and effective public policies, such theory will be basically validated. By being realistic, wouldn't the theory also being positivist, in the sense given by Friedman to the word? Friedman tried to justify the neoclassical microeconomic model (he hadn't yet developed his own macroeconomic model) by the assumption that, despite of his unrealistic assumptions, the predictions were realistic, and their confirmation made the model positively true. This argumentation is pragmatic rather than positivist, in the philosophical sense of the word, although it originates from Popper's work. 27 This latter stated the impossibility of proving the veracity of a certain scientific hypothesis, and considered it as valid as long as, being falsifiable, it hadn't been falsified. Friedman, and with him orthodox economics, judged that, with such a thesis, Popper was not concerned with realism or the veracity of assumptions, but only with the falseability of hypotheses, which he identified with the models' predictive ability. Since general equilibrium and partial equilibrium models enable, at a very general level, to correct predictions about the agents' behavior, he concluded that neoclassical economic theory would be positively validated. He acted thus pragmatically, following the lesson of the founder of pragmatism, Charles Peirce, for whom the truth of an idea resided in its predictive ability and in its ability of orienting action. 28 Yet, he ignored that this predictive ability is too general, so that it has limited utility, mainly in guiding economic policy. It is useful for letting us understand, in very general terms, how does the market coordinate an economic system, but it tells us nothing about how to predict and prevent economic crises and all the other distortions that trouble real economies. Finally, it becomes a dangerous model when it intends to become the framework from which the macroeconomic models and development economics models should be built. 27 Popper, Popper is often defined as a positivist, for sure he is not a relativist, but it would be more fair to view him as a realist. See, particularly, Popper, Peirce, 1958 (date of publication of his selected papers). Although founder of pragmatism, Peirce cannot be considered a relativist. See Wiener, 1958, and Hoover,

16 Horkheimer, in criticizing subjective and instrumental reason, which becomes dominant from the industrial age and from the widespread identification of reason with personal interest, remarks that there is a significant proximity between positivism and pragmatism. By losing its particular autonomy while presuming the existence of an objective reason, reason became instrumental and formal. Whereas the formalism of reason usually expressed through the abuse of mathematics was stressed by positivism, its instrumental aspect was underlined by pragmatism. 29 The risks of the big model Many economists, orthodox or heterodox, have difficulty accepting the existence of two methods of thinking. Since there is only one truth, they deduce that there can also be only one model, and they conclude that logically there can only be one method. This methodological and theoretical monism is common to all major theories : to the classical one, in its Ricardian and Marxist variants, to the neoclassical one, and even to the Keynesian one, not because of Keynes but because of many of his followers. However, since economic, social, and political reality is much more complex and increasingly complex than these models may explain, methodological and theoretical monism becomes an obstacle to the understanding of economic problems, and leads to great risks of economic policy mistakes. I will discuss only the obstacles and mistakes related to the neoclassical school, although all the schools that arrogantly propose to explain everything incur similar problems. The problem deriving from considering neoclassical theory the model lies in the fact that economists thus imagine to have found a way of thinking, but they have actually found a substitute for thought, they are saving something that scientists can never save: thought itself. Although they know that there is no such a thing as perfect competition, in their models they almost invariably start from this assumption, and from related assumptions such as full employment, interest rate and equilibrium exchange rate, savings determined by the interest rate, etc... As a consequence, their models become mostly irrelevant. Mere mathematical exercises. There are, of course, examples of empirical research, some of them extremely relevant, but in general they don't confirm general theoretical models. In order to build a relevant model, the neoclassical economist, instead of already starting from realistic assumptions, is supposed to expressly list all the restrictions to the good functioning of the market he is studying. He will have to say, for instance: I will admitt unemployment, I will admit wage rigidity, I will admit the companies' monopolistic power, I will admit externalities, I will admit 29 Horkheimer, 1947:

17 asymmetry of information, I will admit moral hazard, I will admit path dependency, and so on. Only after finishing off this complex operation, which implies changes in the general model, will he have at his disposal reasonably realistic assumptions, and be in a position to develop a relevant explanatory model, from which he could derive economic policies. Since making all those admissions of imperfection is costly in terms of thought, since it conflicts with the free market ideology, and since it conflicts with the very logic of neoclassical thought, the economist will resist in making them. He will often prefer to keep faithful to the general models he learned, based on the markets' optimal ability of efficiently allocate resources, and eventually he will not obtain relevance for the model he develops. The problem worsens when some of those models are transferred to textbooks. As noted by Nelson and Winter in their classic criticism of neoclassical theory, orthodoxy is subtler that economics textbooks. Notwithstanding, they observe that even intermediate texts tend to set aside the subtleties and difficulties of advanced economic knowledge, and to presume the efficiency of the markets. Even though to simplify a rich and complex thought, it is not unfair to say that neoclassical theory is limited to the analysis of static equilibriums and perfect information. The two authors remark: it is no caricature to remark that continued reliance on equilibrium analysis, even in its more flexible forms, still leaves the discipline largely blind to phenomena associated with historical change. On the other hand, in the advanced forms of ortodoxy the assumption of the rationality of players who optimize is never abandoned. 30 That is, the neoclassical resistance in adopting realistic assumptions eventually triumphs, and the models often become as elegant as irrelevant. The results of this kind of thought when applied to the concrete problems of macroeconomic stabilization and development are often disastrous. They suffer from what Schumpeter called the Ricardian vice. That is, Ricardo's practical attitude of developing models from the methodological strategy of considering as given a great number of variables, and of adopting radical, simplifying hypotheses, which implied unidirectional causal relations, and, there from, deriving economic policy. The result of this method, Schumpeter concludes, probably unfairly towards the great economist, but correctly in criticizing the use of excessively abstract models for action, is an excellent theory that cannot be refuted, and that lacks nothing but sense; to the habit of applying this kind of results to practical problems we will give the name of Ricardian vice Nelson and Winter, 1982: Schumpeter, 1959, vol.2: 124. Sênior was the first that criticized Ricardo for the misuse of an excessively abstract theory to derive practical conclusions. This is the reason why Silveira called this criticism the indetermination of Sênior (1991: 71): The 17

SELF-INTEREST AND INCOMPETENCE Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira

SELF-INTEREST AND INCOMPETENCE Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira Journal of Post Keynesian Economics 23(3), Spring 2001: 363-373. SELF-INTEREST AND INCOMPETENCE Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira Abstract. All social science s schools have a common assumption: selfinterests

More information

Historical models and economic syllogisms

Historical models and economic syllogisms Historical models and economic syllogisms Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira Paper presented to the 3 rd International Conference Economic Philosophy, Aix-en-Provence, June 15-16, 2016. Revised August 31, 2016.

More information

GENERAL INTRODUCTION FIRST DRAFT. In 1933 Michael Kalecki, a young self-taught economist, published in

GENERAL INTRODUCTION FIRST DRAFT. In 1933 Michael Kalecki, a young self-taught economist, published in GENERAL INTRODUCTION FIRST DRAFT In 1933 Michael Kalecki, a young self-taught economist, published in Poland a small book, An essay on the theory of the business cycle. Kalecki was then in his early thirties

More information

Course Title. Professor. Contact Information

Course Title. Professor. Contact Information Course Title History of economic Thought Course Level L3 / M1 Graduate / Undergraduate Domain Management Language English Nb. Face to Face Hours 36 (3hrs. sessions) plus 1 exam of 3 hours for a total of

More information

On the Irrelevance of Formal General Equilibrium Analysis

On the Irrelevance of Formal General Equilibrium Analysis Eastern Economic Journal 2018, 44, (491 495) Ó 2018 EEA 0094-5056/18 www.palgrave.com/journals COLANDER'S ECONOMICS WITH ATTITUDE On the Irrelevance of Formal General Equilibrium Analysis Middlebury College,

More information

Why Do We Need Pluralism in Economics?

Why Do We Need Pluralism in Economics? Why Do We Need Pluralism in Economics? Ha-Joon Chang Faculty of Economics AND Centre of Development Studies University of Cambridge Website: www.hajoonchang.net Many Different Schools of Economics At

More information

For a modest and heterodox mainstream economics: an academic manifesto

For a modest and heterodox mainstream economics: an academic manifesto For a modest and heterodox mainstream economics: an academic manifesto Luiz Carlos Bresser Pereira Paper to be presented to the EAEPE s 2011 Annual Conference, Schumpeter s Heritage: The Evolution of the

More information

CHAPTER 19 MARKET SYSTEMS AND NORMATIVE CLAIMS Microeconomics in Context (Goodwin, et al.), 2 nd Edition

CHAPTER 19 MARKET SYSTEMS AND NORMATIVE CLAIMS Microeconomics in Context (Goodwin, et al.), 2 nd Edition CHAPTER 19 MARKET SYSTEMS AND NORMATIVE CLAIMS Microeconomics in Context (Goodwin, et al.), 2 nd Edition Chapter Summary This final chapter brings together many of the themes previous chapters have explored

More information

Economic philosophy of Amartya Sen Social choice as public reasoning and the capability approach. Reiko Gotoh

Economic philosophy of Amartya Sen Social choice as public reasoning and the capability approach. Reiko Gotoh Welfare theory, public action and ethical values: Re-evaluating the history of welfare economics in the twentieth century Backhouse/Baujard/Nishizawa Eds. Economic philosophy of Amartya Sen Social choice

More information

POLI 111: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

POLI 111: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE POLI 111: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE SESSION 4 NATURE AND SCOPE OF POLITICAL SCIENCE Lecturer: Dr. Evans Aggrey-Darkoh, Department of Political Science Contact Information: aggreydarkoh@ug.edu.gh

More information

PHILOSOPHY OF ECONOMICS & POLITICS

PHILOSOPHY OF ECONOMICS & POLITICS PHILOSOPHY OF ECONOMICS & POLITICS LECTURE 14 DATE 9 FEBRUARY 2017 LECTURER JULIAN REISS Today s agenda Today we are going to look again at a single book: Joseph Schumpeter s Capitalism, Socialism, and

More information

PAPER No. : Basic Microeconomics MODULE No. : 1, Introduction of Microeconomics

PAPER No. : Basic Microeconomics MODULE No. : 1, Introduction of Microeconomics Subject Paper No and Title Module No and Title Module Tag 3 Basic Microeconomics 1- Introduction of Microeconomics ECO_P3_M1 Table of Content 1. Learning outcome 2. Introduction 3. Microeconomics 4. Basic

More information

Dr Kalecki on Mr Keynes

Dr Kalecki on Mr Keynes 7 Dr Kalecki on Mr Keynes Hanna Szymborska and Jan Toporowski This chapter presents Kalecki s interpretation of the General Theory, contained in his review of the book from 1936. The most striking feature

More information

The Reformation in Economics

The Reformation in Economics The Reformation in Economics Philip Pilkington The Reformation in Economics A Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Economic Theory Philip Pilkington GMO LLC London, United Kingdom ISBN 978-3-319-40756-2

More information

Enlightenment of Hayek s Institutional Change Idea on Institutional Innovation

Enlightenment of Hayek s Institutional Change Idea on Institutional Innovation International Conference on Education Technology and Economic Management (ICETEM 2015) Enlightenment of Hayek s Institutional Change Idea on Institutional Innovation Juping Yang School of Public Affairs,

More information

Review of Social Economy. The Uncertain Foundations of Post Keynesian Economics: Essays in Exploration. By Stephen P. Dunn.

Review of Social Economy. The Uncertain Foundations of Post Keynesian Economics: Essays in Exploration. By Stephen P. Dunn. Review of Social Economy The Uncertain Foundations of Post Keynesian Economics: Essays in Exploration. By Stephen P. Dunn. Journal: Review of Social Economy Manuscript ID: Draft Manuscript Type: Book Review

More information

4. Philip Cortney, The Economic Munich: The I.T.O. Charter, Inflation or Liberty, the 1929 Lesson (New York: Philosophical Library, 1949).

4. Philip Cortney, The Economic Munich: The I.T.O. Charter, Inflation or Liberty, the 1929 Lesson (New York: Philosophical Library, 1949). 153 Notes 1. Patrick J. Buchanan, A Republic, Not an Empire (Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 1999). 2. Vreeland Hamilton, Hugo Grotius: The Father of the Modern Science of International Law (New York: Rothman,

More information

ETHICS AND CITIZENSHIP: A REPUBLICAN APPROACH

ETHICS AND CITIZENSHIP: A REPUBLICAN APPROACH ETHICS AND CITIZENSHIP: A REPUBLICAN APPROACH Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira Conferência pronunciada no seminário "A Ética do Futuro" patrocinado pela Unesco, Rio de Janeiro, 4 de julho, 1997. Publicado em

More information

Economics and Reality. Harald Uhlig 2012

Economics and Reality. Harald Uhlig 2012 Economics and Reality Harald Uhlig 2012 Economics and Reality How reality in the form empirical evidence does or does not influence economic thinking and theory? What is the role of : Calibration Statistical

More information

Ricardo: real or supposed vices? A Comment on Kakarot-Handtke s paper Paolo Trabucchi, Roma Tre University, Economics Department

Ricardo: real or supposed vices? A Comment on Kakarot-Handtke s paper Paolo Trabucchi, Roma Tre University, Economics Department Ricardo: real or supposed vices? A Comment on Kakarot-Handtke s paper Paolo Trabucchi, Roma Tre University, Economics Department 1. The paper s aim is to show that Ricardo s concentration on real circumstances

More information

Chapter 1: Theoretical Approaches to Global Politics

Chapter 1: Theoretical Approaches to Global Politics Chapter 1: Theoretical Approaches to Global Politics I. Introduction A. What is theory and why do we need it? B. Many theories, many meanings C. Levels of analysis D. The Great Debates: an introduction

More information

From classical political economy to behavioral economics Ivan Moscati

From classical political economy to behavioral economics Ivan Moscati s&r 4349-3c_s&r 4227-4c 06/11/12 12:15 Pagina 1 s&r The book reconstructs some selected threads in the history of economics, from the classical theory of value elaborated by Smith and Ricardo in the late

More information

Delegation and Legitimacy. Karol Soltan University of Maryland Revised

Delegation and Legitimacy. Karol Soltan University of Maryland Revised Delegation and Legitimacy Karol Soltan University of Maryland ksoltan@gvpt.umd.edu Revised 01.03.2005 This is a ticket of admission for the 2005 Maryland/Georgetown Discussion Group on Constitutionalism,

More information

1. At the completion of this course, students are expected to: 2. Define and explain the doctrine of Physiocracy and Mercantilism

1. At the completion of this course, students are expected to: 2. Define and explain the doctrine of Physiocracy and Mercantilism COURSE CODE: ECO 325 COURSE TITLE: History of Economic Thought 11 NUMBER OF UNITS: 2 Units COURSE DURATION: Two hours per week COURSE LECTURER: Dr. Sylvester Ohiomu INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES 1. At the

More information

Economics 555 Potential Exam Questions

Economics 555 Potential Exam Questions Economics 555 Potential Exam Questions * Evaluate the economic doctrines of the Scholastics. A favorable assessment might stress (e.g.,) how the ideas were those of a religious community, and how those

More information

The Economics of Carl Menger

The Economics of Carl Menger The Economics of Carl Menger Cyril HEDOIN All students of economics are aware that Carl Menger was one of the founding fathers of neoclassical economics. To mark the publication of a French translation

More information

From Muddling through to the Economics of Control: Views of Applied Policy from J. N. Keynes to Abba Lerner. David Colander.

From Muddling through to the Economics of Control: Views of Applied Policy from J. N. Keynes to Abba Lerner. David Colander. From Muddling through to the Economics of Control: Views of Applied Policy from J. N. Keynes to Abba Lerner by David Colander October 2005 MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE ECONOMICS DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 05-33 DEPARTMENT

More information

Western Philosophy of Social Science

Western Philosophy of Social Science Western Philosophy of Social Science Lecture 5. Analytic Marxism Professor Daniel Little University of Michigan-Dearborn delittle@umd.umich.edu www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~delittle/ Western Marxism 1960s-1980s

More information

METHOD AND PASSION IN CELSO FURTADO

METHOD AND PASSION IN CELSO FURTADO METHOD AND PASSION IN CELSO FURTADO Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira In Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira e José Márcio Rego, orgs. (2001) A Grande Esperança em Celso Furtado [The Great Hope in Celso Furtado]. São

More information

Sociological Marxism Volume I: Analytical Foundations. Table of Contents & Outline of topics/arguments/themes

Sociological Marxism Volume I: Analytical Foundations. Table of Contents & Outline of topics/arguments/themes Sociological Marxism Volume I: Analytical Foundations Table of Contents & Outline of topics/arguments/themes Chapter 1. Why Sociological Marxism? Chapter 2. Taking the social in socialism seriously Agenda

More information

Epistemology and Political Science. POLI 205 Doing Research in Political Science. Epistemology. Political. Science. Fall 2015

Epistemology and Political Science. POLI 205 Doing Research in Political Science. Epistemology. Political. Science. Fall 2015 and and Fall 2015 and : How Do We Know? the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion. the

More information

INTERNATIONAL TRADE & ECONOMICS LAW: THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND ECONOMICS

INTERNATIONAL TRADE & ECONOMICS LAW: THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND ECONOMICS Open Access Journal available at jlsr.thelawbrigade.com 1 INTERNATIONAL TRADE & ECONOMICS LAW: THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND ECONOMICS Written by Abha Patel 3rd Year L.L.B Student, Symbiosis Law

More information

Review of Roger E. Backhouse s The puzzle of modern economics: science or ideology? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, 214 pp.

Review of Roger E. Backhouse s The puzzle of modern economics: science or ideology? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, 214 pp. Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics, Volume 4, Issue 1, Spring 2011, pp. 83-87. http://ejpe.org/pdf/4-1-br-1.pdf Review of Roger E. Backhouse s The puzzle of modern economics: science or ideology?

More information

Final Paper Topics. I. Socialism and Economic Planning: Literary Perspectives

Final Paper Topics. I. Socialism and Economic Planning: Literary Perspectives Final Paper Topics I. Socialism and Economic Planning: Literary Perspectives A Utopian novel is a novel set in some alternative reality (often the future) in which things are far better than in the author

More information

Chapter II European integration and the concept of solidarity

Chapter II European integration and the concept of solidarity Chapter II European integration and the concept of solidarity The current chapter is devoted to the concept of solidarity and its role in the European integration discourse. The concept of solidarity applied

More information

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDY NOTES CHAPTER ONE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDY NOTES CHAPTER ONE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDY NOTES 0 1 2 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE Politics is about power. Studying the distribution and exercise of power is, however, far from straightforward. Politics

More information

NASH EQUILIBRIUM AS A MEAN FOR DETERMINATION OF RULES OF LAW (FOR SOVEREIGN ACTORS) Taron Simonyan 1

NASH EQUILIBRIUM AS A MEAN FOR DETERMINATION OF RULES OF LAW (FOR SOVEREIGN ACTORS) Taron Simonyan 1 NASH EQUILIBRIUM AS A MEAN FOR DETERMINATION OF RULES OF LAW (FOR SOVEREIGN ACTORS) Taron Simonyan 1 Social behavior and relations, as well as relations of states in international area, are regulated by

More information

Introduction to New Institutional Economics: A Report Card

Introduction to New Institutional Economics: A Report Card Introduction to New Institutional Economics: A Report Card Paul L. Joskow Introduction During the first three decades after World War II, mainstream academic economists focussed their attention on developing

More information

Economics after the financial crisis: Comments

Economics after the financial crisis: Comments Economics after the financial crisis: Comments Seppo Honkapohja Julkinen 1 Phases of the European financial market crisis Seppo Honkapohja Julkinen 2 Euro area experiencing a double-dip recession: GDP

More information

Choose one question from each section to answer in the time allotted.

Choose one question from each section to answer in the time allotted. Theory Comp May 2014 Choose one question from each section to answer in the time allotted. Ancient: 1. Compare and contrast the accounts Plato and Aristotle give of political change, respectively, in Book

More information

Choose one question from each section to answer in the time allotted.

Choose one question from each section to answer in the time allotted. Choose one question from each section to answer in the time allotted. Ancient: 1. How did Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle describe and evaluate the regimes of the two most powerful Greek cities at their

More information

Keynes as an Interpreter of Classical Economics

Keynes as an Interpreter of Classical Economics Marquette University e-publications@marquette Economics Faculty Research and Publications Economics, Department of 1-1-1998 Keynes as an Interpreter of Classical Economics John B. Davis Marquette University,

More information

RATIONAL CHOICE AND CULTURE

RATIONAL CHOICE AND CULTURE RATIONAL CHOICE AND CULTURE Why did the dinosaurs disappear? I asked my three year old son reading from a book. He did not understand that it was a rhetorical question, and answered with conviction: Because

More information

SOCI 423: THEORIES OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

SOCI 423: THEORIES OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SOCI 423: THEORIES OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SESSION 10: NEOLIBERALISM Lecturer: Dr. James Dzisah Email: jdzisah@ug.edu.gh College of Education School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/2015 2016/2017

More information

Comparison of Plato s Political Philosophy with Aristotle s. Political Philosophy

Comparison of Plato s Political Philosophy with Aristotle s. Political Philosophy Original Paper Urban Studies and Public Administration Vol. 1, No. 1, 2018 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/uspa ISSN 2576-1986 (Print) ISSN 2576-1994 (Online) Comparison of Plato s Political Philosophy

More information

From Muddling Through to the Economics of Control: View of Applied Policy from J.N. Keynes to Abba Lerner. David Colander.

From Muddling Through to the Economics of Control: View of Applied Policy from J.N. Keynes to Abba Lerner. David Colander. From Muddling Through to the Economics of Control: View of Applied Policy from J.N. Keynes to Abba Lerner by David Colander September 2004 MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE ECONOMICS DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 04-21 DEPARTMENT

More information

RATIONALITY AND POLICY ANALYSIS

RATIONALITY AND POLICY ANALYSIS RATIONALITY AND POLICY ANALYSIS The Enlightenment notion that the world is full of puzzles and problems which, through the application of human reason and knowledge, can be solved forms the background

More information

Centre for Economic and Social Studies

Centre for Economic and Social Studies 1. The following is the structure of question paper for Commerce: _ Managerial Economics, Accounting Type of Question Marketing, Management & Finance Marks Business Environment (a) Short Answer Type 5

More information

Robbins as Innovator: the Contribution of An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science

Robbins as Innovator: the Contribution of An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science 1 of 5 4/3/2007 12:25 PM Robbins as Innovator: the Contribution of An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science Robert F. Mulligan Western Carolina University mulligan@wcu.edu Lionel Robbins's

More information

Post-2008 Crisis in Labor Standards: Prospects for Labor Regulation Around the World

Post-2008 Crisis in Labor Standards: Prospects for Labor Regulation Around the World Post-2008 Crisis in Labor Standards: Prospects for Labor Regulation Around the World Michael J. Piore David W. Skinner Professor of Political Economy Department of Economics Massachusetts Institute of

More information

THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF THE AUSTRIAN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND THE PROBLEM OF EMPIRICSM IN ECONOMIC THOUGHT

THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF THE AUSTRIAN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND THE PROBLEM OF EMPIRICSM IN ECONOMIC THOUGHT THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF THE AUSTRIAN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND THE PROBLEM OF EMPIRICSM IN ECONOMIC THOUGHT Drd. Gerhard OHRBAND, Germania, AESM Abstract: The Austrian School of Economics, until now a rather

More information

INSTITUTIONS MATTER (revision 3/28/94)

INSTITUTIONS MATTER (revision 3/28/94) 1 INSTITUTIONS MATTER (revision 3/28/94) I Successful development policy entails an understanding of the dynamics of economic change if the policies pursued are to have the desired consequences. And a

More information

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS Working Paper The Great Detour By Peter Skott Working Paper 2010 07 UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST The Great Detour Peter Skott 12/18/2009 Abstract: This note comments on the

More information

Prior to 1940, the Austrian School was known primarily for its contributions

Prior to 1940, the Austrian School was known primarily for its contributions holcombe.qxd 11/2/2001 10:59 AM Page 27 THE TWO CONTRIBUTIONS OF GARRISON S TIME AND MONEY RANDALL G. HOLCOMBE Prior to 1940, the Austrian School was known primarily for its contributions to monetary theory

More information

The Relevance of Keynesian Ideas in the Current Economic Crisis Context

The Relevance of Keynesian Ideas in the Current Economic Crisis Context ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA UNIVERSITY OF IAŞI FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION The Relevance of Keynesian Ideas in the Current Economic Crisis Context - PhD Thesis Summary- Scientific Advisor:

More information

Subverting the Orthodoxy

Subverting the Orthodoxy Subverting the Orthodoxy Rousseau, Smith and Marx Chau Kwan Yat Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, and Karl Marx each wrote at a different time, yet their works share a common feature: they display a certain

More information

Evolutionary Game Path of Law-Based Government in China Ying-Ying WANG 1,a,*, Chen-Wang XIE 2 and Bo WEI 2

Evolutionary Game Path of Law-Based Government in China Ying-Ying WANG 1,a,*, Chen-Wang XIE 2 and Bo WEI 2 2016 3rd International Conference on Advanced Education and Management (ICAEM 2016) ISBN: 978-1-60595-380-9 Evolutionary Game Path of Law-Based Government in China Ying-Ying WANG 1,a,*, Chen-Wang XIE 2

More information

Economic Epistemology and Methodological Nationalism: a Federalist Perspective

Economic Epistemology and Methodological Nationalism: a Federalist Perspective ISSN: 2036-5438 Economic Epistemology and Methodological Nationalism: a Federalist Perspective by Fabio Masini Perspectives on Federalism, Vol. 3, issue 1, 2011 Except where otherwise noted content on

More information

2. Scope and Importance of Economics. 2.0 Introduction: Teaching of Economics

2. Scope and Importance of Economics. 2.0 Introduction: Teaching of Economics 1 2. Scope and Importance of Economics 2.0 Introduction: Scope mean the area or field with in which a subject works, or boundaries and limits. In the present era of LPG, when world is considered as village

More information

Megnad Desai Marx s Revenge: The Resurgence of Capitalism and the Death of Statist Socialism London, Verso Books, pages, $25.

Megnad Desai Marx s Revenge: The Resurgence of Capitalism and the Death of Statist Socialism London, Verso Books, pages, $25. Megnad Desai Marx s Revenge: The Resurgence of Capitalism and the Death of Statist Socialism London, Verso Books, 2002 372 pages, $25.00 Desai s argument in Marx s Revenge is that, contrary to a century-long

More information

Thinkwell s Homeschool Economics Course Lesson Plan: 36 weeks

Thinkwell s Homeschool Economics Course Lesson Plan: 36 weeks Thinkwell s Homeschool Economics Course Lesson Plan: 36 weeks Welcome to Thinkwell s Homeschool Economics! We re thrilled that you ve decided to make us part of your homeschool curriculum. This lesson

More information

SYLLABUS. Economics 555 History of Economic Thought. Office: Bryan Bldg. 458 Fall Procedural Matters

SYLLABUS. Economics 555 History of Economic Thought. Office: Bryan Bldg. 458 Fall Procedural Matters 1 SYLLABUS Economics 555 History of Economic Thought Office: Bryan Bldg. 458 Fall 2004 Office Hours: Open Door Policy Prof. Bruce Caldwell Office Phone: 334-4865 bruce_caldwell@uncg.edu Procedural Matters

More information

Influencing Expectations in the Conduct of Monetary Policy

Influencing Expectations in the Conduct of Monetary Policy Influencing Expectations in the Conduct of Monetary Policy 2014 Bank of Japan Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies Conference: Monetary Policy in a Post-Financial Crisis Era Tokyo, Japan May 28,

More information

Nicholas Capaldi. Legendre-Soule Distinguished Chair in Business Ethics. Loyola University New Orleans. New Orleans, LA, USA

Nicholas Capaldi. Legendre-Soule Distinguished Chair in Business Ethics. Loyola University New Orleans. New Orleans, LA, USA A Role for Government? Nicholas Capaldi Legendre-Soule Distinguished Chair in Business Ethics Loyola University New Orleans New Orleans, LA, USA Abstract One of the most salient features of Austrian economics

More information

The historical sociology of the future

The historical sociology of the future Review of International Political Economy 5:2 Summer 1998: 321-326 The historical sociology of the future Martin Shaw International Relations and Politics, University of Sussex John Hobson's article presents

More information

Meeting Plato s challenge?

Meeting Plato s challenge? Public Choice (2012) 152:433 437 DOI 10.1007/s11127-012-9995-z Meeting Plato s challenge? Michael Baurmann Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 We can regard the history of Political Philosophy as

More information

CAMBRIDGE MONETARY THOUGHT

CAMBRIDGE MONETARY THOUGHT CAMBRIDGE MONETARY THOUGHT Cambridge Monetary Thought Development of Saving-Investment Analysis from Marshall to Keynes Pascal Bridel Professor of Economics University of Lausanne Palgrave Macmillan ISBN

More information

The Continuing Relevance of Keynes's Philosophical Thinking: Reflexivity, Complexity, and Uncertainty

The Continuing Relevance of Keynes's Philosophical Thinking: Reflexivity, Complexity, and Uncertainty Forthcoming in Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics, History and Political Science The Continuing Relevance of Keynes's Philosophical Thinking: Reflexivity,

More information

A Comparison of the Theories of Joseph Alois Schumpeter and John. Maynard Keynes. Aubrey Poon

A Comparison of the Theories of Joseph Alois Schumpeter and John. Maynard Keynes. Aubrey Poon A Comparison of the Theories of Joseph Alois Schumpeter and John Maynard Keynes Aubrey Poon Joseph Alois Schumpeter and John Maynard Keynes were the two greatest economists in the 21 st century. They were

More information

Chapter 25. Rational Expectations: Implications for Policy

Chapter 25. Rational Expectations: Implications for Policy Chapter 25 Rational Expectations: Implications for Policy Econometric Policy Critique Econometric models are used to forecast and to evaluate policy Lucas critique, based on rational expectations, argues

More information

ECO 171S: Hayek and the Austrian Tradition Syllabus

ECO 171S: Hayek and the Austrian Tradition Syllabus ECO 171S: Hayek and the Austrian Tradition Syllabus Spring 2011 Prof. Bruce Caldwell TTH 10:05 11:20 a.m. 919-660-6896 Room : Social Science 327 bruce.caldwell@duke.edu In 1871 the Austrian economist Carl

More information

Lecture 18 Sociology 621 November 14, 2011 Class Struggle and Class Compromise

Lecture 18 Sociology 621 November 14, 2011 Class Struggle and Class Compromise Lecture 18 Sociology 621 November 14, 2011 Class Struggle and Class Compromise If one holds to the emancipatory vision of a democratic socialist alternative to capitalism, then Adam Przeworski s analysis

More information

The Rationale for Independent Monetary Policy

The Rationale for Independent Monetary Policy The Rationale for Independent Monetary Policy Bennett T. McCallum Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University Shadow Open Market Committee March 26, 2010 1. Introduction Recently there has been

More information

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. My initial intention is to describe, not theorize, about China s economic. Theory of Institutional Economic Engineering in China

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. My initial intention is to describe, not theorize, about China s economic. Theory of Institutional Economic Engineering in China Gao c01.tex V3-07/24/2007 10:30am Page 3 CHAPTER 1 Theory of Institutional Economic Engineering in China My initial intention is to describe, not theorize, about China s economic reform program. However,

More information

Figure 1.1 Output of the U.S. economy, Copyright 2005 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-2

Figure 1.1 Output of the U.S. economy, Copyright 2005 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-2 Figure 1.1 Output of the U.S. economy, 1869 2002 Copyright 2005 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-2 Figure 1.2 Average labor productivity in the United States, 1900 2002 Copyright 2005 Pearson

More information

S. Devrim Yilmaz. Kingston University Department of Economics 25 November 2014

S. Devrim Yilmaz. Kingston University Department of Economics 25 November 2014 S. Devrim Yilmaz Kingston University Department of Economics 25 November 2014 1 If economists wished to study the horse, they wouldn t go and look at the horses. They d sit in their studies and say to

More information

RESPONSE TO JAMES GORDLEY'S "GOOD FAITH IN CONTRACT LAW: The Problem of Profit Maximization"

RESPONSE TO JAMES GORDLEY'S GOOD FAITH IN CONTRACT LAW: The Problem of Profit Maximization RESPONSE TO JAMES GORDLEY'S "GOOD FAITH IN CONTRACT LAW: The Problem of Profit Maximization" By MICHAEL AMBROSIO We have been given a wonderful example by Professor Gordley of a cogent, yet straightforward

More information

On the Objective Orientation of Young Students Legal Idea Cultivation Reflection on Legal Education for Chinese Young Students

On the Objective Orientation of Young Students Legal Idea Cultivation Reflection on Legal Education for Chinese Young Students On the Objective Orientation of Young Students Legal Idea Cultivation ------Reflection on Legal Education for Chinese Young Students Yuelin Zhao Hangzhou Radio & TV University, Hangzhou 310012, China Tel:

More information

Individualism. Marquette University. John B. Davis Marquette University,

Individualism. Marquette University. John B. Davis Marquette University, Marquette University e-publications@marquette Economics Faculty Research and Publications Economics, Department of 1-1-2009 John B. Davis Marquette University, john.davis@marquette.edu Published version.

More information

From Collected Works of Michał Kalecki Volume II (Jerzy Osiatinyński editor, Clarendon Press, Oxford: 1991)

From Collected Works of Michał Kalecki Volume II (Jerzy Osiatinyński editor, Clarendon Press, Oxford: 1991) From Collected Works of Michał Kalecki Volume II (Jerzy Osiatinyński editor, Clarendon Press, Oxford: 1991) The Problem of Effective Demand with Tugan-Baranovsky and Rosa Luxemburg (1967) In the discussions

More information

In a series of articles written around the turn of the century, Guido. Freedom, Counterfactuals and. Quarterly Journal of WINTER 2017

In a series of articles written around the turn of the century, Guido. Freedom, Counterfactuals and. Quarterly Journal of WINTER 2017 The Quarterly Journal of VOL. 20 N O. 4 366 372 WINTER 2017 Austrian Economics Freedom, Counterfactuals and Economic Laws: Further Comments on Machaj and Hülsmann Michaël Bauwens KEYWORDS: free choice,

More information

The Constitutional Principle of Government by People: Stability and Dynamism

The Constitutional Principle of Government by People: Stability and Dynamism The Constitutional Principle of Government by People: Stability and Dynamism Sergey Sergeyevich Zenin Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor, Constitutional and Municipal Law Department Kutafin

More information

Dinerstein makes two major contributions to which I will draw attention and around which I will continue this review: (1) systematising autonomy and

Dinerstein makes two major contributions to which I will draw attention and around which I will continue this review: (1) systematising autonomy and Ana C. Dinerstein, The Politics of Autonomy in Latin America: The Art of Organising Hope, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. ISBN: 978-0-230-27208-8 (cloth); ISBN: 978-1-349-32298-5 (paper); ISBN: 978-1-137-31601-1

More information

Review of Christian List and Philip Pettit s Group agency: the possibility, design, and status of corporate agents

Review of Christian List and Philip Pettit s Group agency: the possibility, design, and status of corporate agents Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics, Volume 4, Issue 2, Autumn 2011, pp. 117-122. http://ejpe.org/pdf/4-2-br-8.pdf Review of Christian List and Philip Pettit s Group agency: the possibility, design,

More information

IJOESS Year: 9, Vol:9, Issue: 33 SEPTEMBER 2018

IJOESS Year: 9, Vol:9, Issue: 33 SEPTEMBER 2018 Research Article WHITHER MACROECONOMICS? THE EVOLUTION OF MACROECONOMIC THOUGHT SINCE KEYNES Sinem KUTLU Assist. Prof. Dr., İstanbul University, sinemkut@istanbul.edu.tr ORCID Number: 0000-0001-9392-2458

More information

General view of the economy The less the government is involved in the economy the better it will perform.

General view of the economy The less the government is involved in the economy the better it will perform. Austrian Economics Overview A heterodox school of economics grounded primarily in the work of Mises, Hayek, Menger and Rothbard that advocates the purposeful economic decisions of the individual. Mission

More information

Marx s unfinished Critique of Political Economy and its different receptions. Michael Heinrich July 2018

Marx s unfinished Critique of Political Economy and its different receptions. Michael Heinrich July 2018 Marx s unfinished Critique of Political Economy and its different receptions Michael Heinrich July 2018 Aim of my contribution In many contributions, Marx s analysis of capitalism is treated more or less

More information

ECON 5060/6060 History of Economic Doctrines

ECON 5060/6060 History of Economic Doctrines ECON 5060/6060 History of Economic Doctrines University of Utah Spring Semester, 2011 Tuesday/Thursday, 10:45 AM - 12:05 PM, MBH 113 Instructor: William McColloch Office: BUC 27 Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday

More information

As Joseph Stiglitz sees matters, the euro suffers from a fatal. Book Review. The Euro: How a Common Currency. Journal of FALL 2017

As Joseph Stiglitz sees matters, the euro suffers from a fatal. Book Review. The Euro: How a Common Currency. Journal of FALL 2017 The Quarterly Journal of VOL. 20 N O. 3 289 293 FALL 2017 Austrian Economics Book Review The Euro: How a Common Currency Threatens the Future of Europe Joseph E. Stiglitz New York: W.W. Norton, 2016, xxix

More information

The present volume is an accomplished theoretical inquiry. Book Review. Journal of. Economics SUMMER Carmen Elena Dorobăț VOL. 20 N O.

The present volume is an accomplished theoretical inquiry. Book Review. Journal of. Economics SUMMER Carmen Elena Dorobăț VOL. 20 N O. The Quarterly Journal of VOL. 20 N O. 2 194 198 SUMMER 2017 Austrian Economics Book Review The International Monetary System and the Theory of Monetary Systems Pascal Salin Northampton, Mass.: Edward Elgar,

More information

Notes from discussion in Erik Olin Wright Lecture #2: Diagnosis & Critique Middle East Technical University Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Notes from discussion in Erik Olin Wright Lecture #2: Diagnosis & Critique Middle East Technical University Tuesday, November 13, 2007 Notes from discussion in Erik Olin Wright Lecture #2: Diagnosis & Critique Middle East Technical University Tuesday, November 13, 2007 Question: In your conception of social justice, does exploitation

More information

The interaction term received intense scrutiny, much of it critical,

The interaction term received intense scrutiny, much of it critical, 2 INTERACTIONS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE The interaction term received intense scrutiny, much of it critical, upon its introduction to social science. Althauser (1971) wrote, It would appear, in short, that including

More information

Adam Smith and Government Intervention in the Economy Sima Siami-Namini Graduate Research Assistant and Ph.D. Student Texas Tech University

Adam Smith and Government Intervention in the Economy Sima Siami-Namini Graduate Research Assistant and Ph.D. Student Texas Tech University Review of the Wealth of Nations Adam Smith and Government Intervention in the Economy Sima Siami-Namini Graduate Research Assistant and Ph.D. Student Texas Tech University May 14, 2015 Abstract The main

More information

Dorin Iulian Chiriţoiu

Dorin Iulian Chiriţoiu THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL ECONOMICS: REFLECTIONS ON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ISSUES Volume IX Issue 2 Spring 2016 ISSN 1843-2298 Copyright note: No part of these works may be reproduced in any form without

More information

Basic Approaches to Legal Security Understanding and Its Provision at an International Level

Basic Approaches to Legal Security Understanding and Its Provision at an International Level Journal of Politics and Law; Vol. 10, No. 4; 2017 ISSN 1913-9047 E-ISSN 1913-9055 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education Basic Approaches to Legal Security Understanding and Its Provision

More information

MGT610 2 nd Quiz solved by Masoodkhan before midterm spring 2012

MGT610 2 nd Quiz solved by Masoodkhan before midterm spring 2012 MGT610 2 nd Quiz solved by Masoodkhan before midterm spring 2012 Which one of the following is NOT listed as virtue in Aristotle s virtue? Courage Humility Temperance Prudence Which philosopher of utilitarianism

More information

Mehrdad Payandeh, Internationales Gemeinschaftsrecht Summary

Mehrdad Payandeh, Internationales Gemeinschaftsrecht Summary The age of globalization has brought about significant changes in the substance as well as in the structure of public international law changes that cannot adequately be explained by means of traditional

More information

Agnieszka Pawlak. Determinants of entrepreneurial intentions of young people a comparative study of Poland and Finland

Agnieszka Pawlak. Determinants of entrepreneurial intentions of young people a comparative study of Poland and Finland Agnieszka Pawlak Determinants of entrepreneurial intentions of young people a comparative study of Poland and Finland Determinanty intencji przedsiębiorczych młodzieży studium porównawcze Polski i Finlandii

More information

Last time we discussed a stylized version of the realist view of global society.

Last time we discussed a stylized version of the realist view of global society. Political Philosophy, Spring 2003, 1 The Terrain of a Global Normative Order 1. Realism and Normative Order Last time we discussed a stylized version of the realist view of global society. According to

More information

The economics and the political economy of new-developmentalism

The economics and the political economy of new-developmentalism The economics and the political economy of new-developmentalism Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira São Paulo, EESP/FGV, August 2017. Abstract: This paper resumes new developmentalism a theoretical framework being

More information