Hyman Minksy: "In 1948–49 the representative graduate student considered Schumpeter to be passé. Paying attention to him, joining him in his study was evidence of a lack of fundamental seriousness, of dilettantism. Given the command of mathematics that economists of that time possessed, Schumpeter’s model was not tractable. As a result his vision was ignored by the candidates striving to be mathematical economists and econometricians.
The events of our time, especially but not exclusively the break-up of the Soviet ministerial model of socialism, vindicates the Schumpeter vision of economies as evolving systems, systems that exist in history and change in response to endogenous factors. (Schumpeter acknowledged that this vision owes much to Marx.) This message, that societies are evolutionary beasts which cannot be frozen in time and reduced to static mathematical formulations, was never more relevant that it is today. No doctrine, no vision that reduces economics to the study of equilibrium seeking and sustaining systems can have a long-lasting relevance. The message of Schumpeter is that history does not lead to an end of history.”Multiplier Effect
Minsky on Schumpeter, “Dilettantism,” and History
Michael Stephens
This was the view of many heterodox economists that risked their careers on being realistic instead of pursuing the academic fad of the hour. Kenneth Boulding is an outstanding example. He became one of the co-founders of general systems theory as a trans-disciplinary approach to complex adaptive systems when he concluded that there was no hope for conventional economics to be representative or socially contributive. Minsky, of course, was another giant who risked all and history has shown him to be right as conventional economists who have any integrity now scramble to read him. However, most economists have not yet discovered other giants of the recent past like Kenneth Boulding, Adolf Lowe, and Abba Lerner. Conversely, MMT economists are familiar with them.
This was the view of many heterodox economists that risked their careers on being realistic instead of pursuing the academic fad of the hour. Kenneth Boulding is an outstanding example. He became one of the co-founders of general systems theory as a trans-disciplinary approach to complex adaptive systems when he concluded that there was no hope for conventional economics to be representative or socially contributive. Minsky, of course, was another giant who risked all and history has shown him to be right as conventional economists who have any integrity now scramble to read him. However, most economists have not yet discovered other giants of the recent past like Kenneth Boulding, Adolf Lowe, and Abba Lerner. Conversely, MMT economists are familiar with them.
1 comment:
Mainstream economics is all "ex post" imo... rsp,
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