I don't know if this has been posted before, but you can get a free PDF copy of the book in the link below.
“Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer” very skillfully proves that textbook economics is far removed from the world we actually live in. Baker shows how the distribution of income in our society has little to do with merit and how postulates of neoclassical economics are selectively invoked to prevent any actions that do not benefit elites. Interventions that promote upwards distribution of incomes are never criticized, while inequality and unemployment are left for the invisible hand to fix.
In the late 19th century neoclassical economics transformed the subject into “the Calculus of Pain and Pleasure,” by introducing the concept of utility, and creating a theory based on the assumption that each individual aims to maximize their own utility. By introducing a mathematical component, the new theory offers, as Baker states, “a basis for distributing income that is independent of political decisions or moral judgments.” The discussions about class struggle and distribution of wealth, which previously dominated the economics debate, became obsolete. Ever since, the mathematical component has become the norm in mainstream economics.
But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13
ReplyDeleteThe solution is strict adhesion to principle since the road to hell on Earth is paved with the "good" intentions of pragmatists.