Can Heterodox Economics Make A Difference

In a series of in-depth interviews with leading economists and policy-makers from different schools including Austrian, Monetarist, New-Keynesian, Post-Keynesian, Modern Monetary Theory, Marxist and Institutionalist, this intriguing book sheds light upon the behaviour of economists and the sociology of the economics profession by enabling economists to express their views on a wide range of issues.

Since the Global Financial Crisis, economics has been under greater public scrutiny, revealing a crisis in the discipline. This represented a potential turning point on how economics should be thought and taught. Heterodox economics has played a prominent role in these discussions revolving around new economics thinking and pluralism in economics. Yet, its identity, aspirations, and pedagogy remain underexplored, contested, and somewhat opaque. This volume brings together sixteen interviews with leading economists to understand what heterodox economics is. How and why does an economist become heterodox? In which way do heterodox economists see themselves as ‘different’ from mainstream economics? The interviews shed light on what problems heterodox economists perceive in the mainstream; elucidate the different contexts under which they operate in higher education; and provide insights on their ontology and methodology. The reader will also find answers to the following questions about the nature and state of heterodox economics: Do heterodox economists have particular intellectual journeys, motives and aspirations? Is this reflected in their teaching practices and strategies to achieve social change? What is the relation between heterodox economics and the humanities and arts? Appealing to a diverse audience, including philosophers, sociologists and historians of economic thought, the book will be of great interest to anyone keen to find out more about the internal discussions in the economics discipline.

Post-Keynesian and heterodox economics challenge the mainstream economics theories that dominate the teaching at universities and government economic policies. And it was these latter theories that helped to cause the great depression the United States and the rest of the world is in. However, most economists and the top 1% do not want mainstream theories challenged—for to do so would mean questioning why and how the 1% got where they are. Therefore, numerous efforts have been and are being made to discredit if not suppress Post-Keynesian and heterodox economics. These efforts have had some success; this book is a response to them. This book makes it clear that Post Keynesian/heterodox economics is, in spite of internal problems, a viable and important approach to economics and that it should resist the attempts of the critics to bury it. The reader will also find arguments that directly engage the critics and suggest that their views/criticisms are vacuous and wrong. As such, this will appeal to all who are interested in economic theory, economic history and who believe in challenging the orthodoxy.

Heterodox economics can provide a more complete and robust explanation of economic realities than orthodox (or mainstream) economics. Contemporary Issues in Heterodox Economics: Implications for Theory and Policy Action argues that this greater explanatory power gives heterodox economics the ability to illuminate appropriate policy for the major crises of our time, as well as proffer the basis for a more rounded, pluralist approach to economic theory. The chapters in this wide-ranging volume address some of the key issues facing the global economy, including the growing disparity of income/wealth between persons and economic areas, environmental degradation, issues associated with employment, and the regularity of economic/financial crises. The authors examine potential policy responses such as modern monetary theory, models of public ownership, and the need to move beyond standard concepts of growth. They also explore the deficiencies of orthodox economics, and contend that a more pluralist approach to economics is required in the public sphere, in academia, and in the classroom in order to help face the challenges of the twenty-first century. This book is invaluable reading for students and scholars across the social sciences who are interested in alternatives to mainstream economic thinking.

Over the last 50 years, the community of heterodox economists has expanded, and its publications have proliferated. But its power in departments of economics has waned. Addressing this paradox, this book argues that heterodox economists are defined more by left ideology than by a shared understanding of the nature of orthodox economics and of what should replace it. Heterodox economists cannot agree on what heterodoxy means. This volume applies work on the social nature and institutions of science to help explain the failure of heterodox economics to gain ground. It assesses some strategic options for its future.

This collection of essays honors the life and work of one of the most prominent and fervent heterodox economists, Frederic S. Lee, who has been at the heart of the heterodox economics movements for the past three decades. Authors in this book demonstrate that heterodox economic has transcended the criticism of mainstream economics and, more importantly, that constructive developments are in the making by way of cross-communications among various heterodox economics traditions. Frederic S. Lee’s contributions to heterodox economics are centered on three themes: the making of a history and identity of heterodox economics, heterodox microeconomics, and the heterodox analysis of social provisioning. Part I addresses the importance of history, theory, research methods, and institutions in the making of the identity of heterodox economics as an alternative to mainstream economics. Part II delves into heterodox microeconomic theories—in particular, investment, pricing, competition, markets, and market governance—as foundations of heterodox macroeconomic analyses. Part III expands the analysis of the capitalist social provisioning process with an emphasis on its subsystems and their relationships over historical time. Part IV encapsulates the life and work of Frederic S. Lee. Throughout his intellectual life Frederic S. Lee has shown to many that the development of heterodox economics is rendered possible by unselfish and ceaseless efforts to build both theory and institutions. Essays in this book attest that establishing an alternative critical theory to the status quo is not only possible but also serviceable to the majority of the population.

Economics is a contested academic discipline between neoclassical economics and a collection of alternative approaches, such as Marxism-radical economics, Institutional economics, Post Keynesian economics, and others, that can collectively be called heterodox economics. Because of the dominance of neoclassical economics, the existence of the alternative approaches is generally not known. This book is concerned with the community history of heterodox economics, seen primarily through the eyes of Marxian-radical economics and Post Keynesian economics. Throughout the 20th century neoclassical economists in conjunction with state and university power have attacked heterodox economists and tried to cleanse them from the academy. Professor Lee, his groundbreaking new title discusses issues including the contested landscape of American economics in the 1970s, the emergence and establishment of Post Keynesian economics in the US and the development of heterodox economics in Britain from 1970 to 1996.

A comprehensive survey of the current state--and future direction--of heterodox economic thought