6 - On the Problematic State of Economic ‘Science’
Corresponding Author(s) : Lansana Keita
Africa Development,
Vol. 39 No. 1 (2014): Africa Development: Special Issue CODESRIA’s 40th Anniversary
Abstract
Economics is arguably the most important social science on account of its fundamental and valuational role in human decision-making. Accordingly, it is a fit discipline for probing analysis. In its present dominant configuration as ‘neoclassical economics’, it presents itself as a species of engineering thereby ignoring its evolutionary history. An examination of such will reveal that economics was and is most cognitively comprehensible in its guise as ‘political economy’. Economics’ transition to ‘economic science’ can be best explained by the mathematisation of the empirical world by empirical science and an ideologically derived attempt to evade the serious sociological and political implications of macroscopic political economy as was evidenced in the works of the classical political economists including Marx. The new approach was founded on an abstract and individualised decision-making with little relevance to the real world. Thus the important issues concerning human welfare, equity and the decisive role that politics plays in economic decision-making were all regarded as irrelevant to neoclassical economic theory. A now-dominant neoclassical economic theory means that it has become standard academic fare in African universities. Given the ideological role that neoclassical economics plays in the ongoing pillage du tiers monde, new and revived counter-theses are necessary for more effective economic analysis.
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- Allais, M., 1953, ‘Le comportment de l’homme rationel devant le risque, critique des postulats et axioms de l’ecole americaine’, Econometrica, 29(3), 315-335.
- Arrow, K. and Debreu, G., 1954, ‘The Existence of an Equilibrium for a Competitive Economy’, Econometrica, 22, 265-290.
- Baran, P., 1957, The Political Economy of Growth, New York: Monthly Review Press.
- Blaug, M., 1996, Economic Theory in Retrospect, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Camerer, C., Lowenstein, G., Rabin, R.,(eds.), 2004, Advances in Behavioral Economics, New York: Princeton University Press.
- Camerer, C., Lowenstein, Drazen, P., ‘Neuroeconomics: How Neuroeconomics Can Inform Economics’, Journal of Economic Literature, 43, 9-64.
- Debreu, G., 1959, ‘The Theory of Value: An Axiomatic Analysis of Economic Equilibrium, New York: Wiley.
- Fama, E., 1976, Foundations of Finance, New York: Basic Books.
- Fechner, G.T., 1860, 1966, Elements of Psychophysics, Vol 1., New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
- Frank, A. Gunder, 1966, The Development of Underdevelopment, New York: Monthly Review Press
- Friedman, M., 1953, ‘The Methodology of Positive Economics’, in Essays in
- Positive Economics, Chicago: Chicago University Press, pp. 3-43. Gloria-Palermo, S., 1999, The Evolution of Austrian Economics: From Menger to Lachmann, London: Routledge.
- Hicks, J.R. and Allen, R.D.G., 1934, ‘A Reconsideration of the Theory of Value’, Economica, 1(2), 196-219.
- Hicks, J., 1939, Value and Capital: An Inquiry into Some Fundamental Problems of Economic Theory, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Houthakker, H., 1950, ‘Revealed Preference and the Utility Function’, Economica, 17(66), 159-174.
- Jevons, W.S, 2012(1862), The Progress of the Mathematical Theory of Political Economy, Charleston, S.C.: Nabu Press.
- Jevons, W.S., 1981(1870), The Theory of Political Economy, London: Macmillan.
- Kahneman, D. and Tversky, A., 1979, ‘Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decisions Under Risk’, Econometrica, 47, 263-291.
- Kahenman, D. and Tversky, A., eds, 2000, Choices, Values, and Frames, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Keynes, J. M., 1936, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, London: Macmillan.
- Keynes, J.N., 1890, The Scope and Method of Political Economy, Kitchener, London: Macmillan.
- Leamer, E., 1983, ‘Let’s Take the Con out of Econometrics’, American Economic Review, 73(1), 31-43.
- Lucas, R., 1972, ‘Expectations and the Neutrality of Money’, Journal of Economic Theory, 4(2),103-124.
- Malinowski, B., 1922, Argonauts in the Western Pacific: An account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelago of Melanesian New Guinea, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
- Menger, K.,1981(1870), Principles of Economics, New York: New York University Press.
- Muth, J., 1961, ‘Rational Expectations and the Theory of Price Movements, Econometrica, 29(3), 315-335.
- Polanyi, K., 1957(1944), The Great Transformation, Boston,MA: Beacon Press.
- Reinert, E., 2007, How Rich Nations Got Rich and Why Poor Nations Stay Poor.
- Robbins, L., 1935(1932), An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science, London: Macmillan
- Samuelson, P. A.,1938a, ‘ A Note on the Pure Theory of Consumer’s Behaviour’, Economica, 5, 61-71.
- Samuelson, P.A.,1938b, ‘A Note on the Pure Theory of Consumer’s Behaviour’, Economica, 5, 353-354.
- Samuelson, P.A., 1948, ‘Consumption Theory in Terms of Revealed Preference’, Economica, 15, 243-253.
- Shiller, R., 2005, Irrational Exuberance, 2nd Edition, Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
- Simon, H., 1972, ‘Theories of Bounded Rationality’, in Decision and Organization, C.B. Macguire and R. Radner, eds, Amsterdam: North Holland, 161-176. Simon, H., 1976, ‘From Substantive to Procedural Rationality’, in Method and Appraisal in Economics, S.J. Latsis, ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Smolin, L., 2013, From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe, New York: Houghton Miflin Harcourt.
- Spanos, A., 1995, ‘On the Testing of Econometrics: Modeling with non-Experimental Data’, Journal of Econometrics, 67, 189-226.
- Spanos, A., (with G.D. Mayo), 2010, Error and Inference: Recent Exchanges on Experimental Reasoning, Reliability, and the Objectivity and Rationality in Science, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Varian, H., 2005, ‘Revealed Preference’, in M. Szenberg, L. Ramrattand and A.A. Gottesman, eds., Samuelsonian Economics in the 21st Century, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 99-115.
- Wallerstein, I., 1974, et seq., The Modern World System, New York: Academic Press.
- Wong, S. 1978, The Foundations of Samuelson’s Revealed Preference Theory, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
References
Allais, M., 1953, ‘Le comportment de l’homme rationel devant le risque, critique des postulats et axioms de l’ecole americaine’, Econometrica, 29(3), 315-335.
Arrow, K. and Debreu, G., 1954, ‘The Existence of an Equilibrium for a Competitive Economy’, Econometrica, 22, 265-290.
Baran, P., 1957, The Political Economy of Growth, New York: Monthly Review Press.
Blaug, M., 1996, Economic Theory in Retrospect, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Camerer, C., Lowenstein, G., Rabin, R.,(eds.), 2004, Advances in Behavioral Economics, New York: Princeton University Press.
Camerer, C., Lowenstein, Drazen, P., ‘Neuroeconomics: How Neuroeconomics Can Inform Economics’, Journal of Economic Literature, 43, 9-64.
Debreu, G., 1959, ‘The Theory of Value: An Axiomatic Analysis of Economic Equilibrium, New York: Wiley.
Fama, E., 1976, Foundations of Finance, New York: Basic Books.
Fechner, G.T., 1860, 1966, Elements of Psychophysics, Vol 1., New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Frank, A. Gunder, 1966, The Development of Underdevelopment, New York: Monthly Review Press
Friedman, M., 1953, ‘The Methodology of Positive Economics’, in Essays in
Positive Economics, Chicago: Chicago University Press, pp. 3-43. Gloria-Palermo, S., 1999, The Evolution of Austrian Economics: From Menger to Lachmann, London: Routledge.
Hicks, J.R. and Allen, R.D.G., 1934, ‘A Reconsideration of the Theory of Value’, Economica, 1(2), 196-219.
Hicks, J., 1939, Value and Capital: An Inquiry into Some Fundamental Problems of Economic Theory, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Houthakker, H., 1950, ‘Revealed Preference and the Utility Function’, Economica, 17(66), 159-174.
Jevons, W.S, 2012(1862), The Progress of the Mathematical Theory of Political Economy, Charleston, S.C.: Nabu Press.
Jevons, W.S., 1981(1870), The Theory of Political Economy, London: Macmillan.
Kahneman, D. and Tversky, A., 1979, ‘Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decisions Under Risk’, Econometrica, 47, 263-291.
Kahenman, D. and Tversky, A., eds, 2000, Choices, Values, and Frames, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Keynes, J. M., 1936, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, London: Macmillan.
Keynes, J.N., 1890, The Scope and Method of Political Economy, Kitchener, London: Macmillan.
Leamer, E., 1983, ‘Let’s Take the Con out of Econometrics’, American Economic Review, 73(1), 31-43.
Lucas, R., 1972, ‘Expectations and the Neutrality of Money’, Journal of Economic Theory, 4(2),103-124.
Malinowski, B., 1922, Argonauts in the Western Pacific: An account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelago of Melanesian New Guinea, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Menger, K.,1981(1870), Principles of Economics, New York: New York University Press.
Muth, J., 1961, ‘Rational Expectations and the Theory of Price Movements, Econometrica, 29(3), 315-335.
Polanyi, K., 1957(1944), The Great Transformation, Boston,MA: Beacon Press.
Reinert, E., 2007, How Rich Nations Got Rich and Why Poor Nations Stay Poor.
Robbins, L., 1935(1932), An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science, London: Macmillan
Samuelson, P. A.,1938a, ‘ A Note on the Pure Theory of Consumer’s Behaviour’, Economica, 5, 61-71.
Samuelson, P.A.,1938b, ‘A Note on the Pure Theory of Consumer’s Behaviour’, Economica, 5, 353-354.
Samuelson, P.A., 1948, ‘Consumption Theory in Terms of Revealed Preference’, Economica, 15, 243-253.
Shiller, R., 2005, Irrational Exuberance, 2nd Edition, Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
Simon, H., 1972, ‘Theories of Bounded Rationality’, in Decision and Organization, C.B. Macguire and R. Radner, eds, Amsterdam: North Holland, 161-176. Simon, H., 1976, ‘From Substantive to Procedural Rationality’, in Method and Appraisal in Economics, S.J. Latsis, ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Smolin, L., 2013, From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe, New York: Houghton Miflin Harcourt.
Spanos, A., 1995, ‘On the Testing of Econometrics: Modeling with non-Experimental Data’, Journal of Econometrics, 67, 189-226.
Spanos, A., (with G.D. Mayo), 2010, Error and Inference: Recent Exchanges on Experimental Reasoning, Reliability, and the Objectivity and Rationality in Science, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Varian, H., 2005, ‘Revealed Preference’, in M. Szenberg, L. Ramrattand and A.A. Gottesman, eds., Samuelsonian Economics in the 21st Century, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 99-115.
Wallerstein, I., 1974, et seq., The Modern World System, New York: Academic Press.
Wong, S. 1978, The Foundations of Samuelson’s Revealed Preference Theory, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.