Saturday, January 2, 2021

Economist Dennis Snower Says Economics Nears a New Paradigm — Yves Smith

 I agree with Yves' intro. Blah blah. But the article contains a short summary of the assumptions on which conventional (neoclassical) economics is based, and it is useful for that.

The shortcoming of conventional economics is simple to diagnose. It is focusing overly on economic factors in complex adaptive social systems (human groups, societies) when other factors are not only relevant but also determinative, like social stratification, power, and distributional effects not only of income and wealth but also access that leads to unequal opportunity. 

But as Yves observes, economics is not really about economics but rather class power. You know, like Marx and Veblen told you.  Actually, Adam Smith too. So it is not like this is something new.

The consequence for conventional econ? Fail.

New paradigm? That involves a power struggle in which money and position talk.

That leaves the historical dialectic to sort it out.

Naked Capitalism
Economist Dennis Snower Says Economics Nears a New Paradigm
Yves Smith

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