ECON 325
Radical Economics
D. Allen Dalton
Fall 2014
Information
•
•
•
•
MBEB 3222 (Adjunct offices)
9:30 -11:00 am TuTh or by appointment
allendalton@boisestate.edu
https://cobe.boisestate.edu/allendalton/
2
Grading
•
•
•
•
Two term papers
Class participation (primary discussant)
Three exams
Extra credit
– John Allison
– Salman Rushdie
3
Important Dates
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
September 18 – Approval deadline for Heterodox Economics Paper
September 25 – 1st Exam
October 2 – Brief Outline of Heterodox Economics Paper Due
October 23 – Heterodox Economics Paper Due
October 28 – Approval deadline for Heterodox Political Economy
Paper
October 30 – 2nd Exam
November 13 – Brief Outline of Heterodox Political Economy
Paper Due
December 4 – Heterodox Political Economy Paper Due
December 16 – 3rd Exam; 2:30 – 4:30 pm
4
No class on Thursday, August 28
Go Broncos!
No class on Thursday, August 28
5
What is Radical
Economics?
Catalog Course Description
Analysis of radical political economic thought
and its applications to the study of socioeconomic problems. Topics include Marxian
socialist economic theory, libertarianism,
anarchist theory, evolutionary economic
theory, and other radical models. Issues such as
imperialism, economic and social inequality, and
alienation will be considered.
Radical Political Economy
and
Heterodox Economic Theory
Radical Political Economy
• Normative
• Critical of fundamental institutions within
society
• Proposals for fundamental restructuring
of basic institutions
Radical Political Economy
•
•
•
•
“Participatory Economics”
Market Socialism
Marxism
Anarchism
– Syndicalism
– Mutualism
– Federated Communities
– Anarcho-Capitalism
Heterodox Economics
• Positive
• Critical of the way in which
“mainstream” economics is done
– Lack of realism
– Hidden biases
• Alternative explanations for economic
action
Heterodox Economics
•
•
•
•
•
Austrian Economics
Post-Keynesian Economics
Social Economics
Institutional Economics
Sraffian-Kaleckian Economics
Why should one study Radical
Economics?
A.
Isn’t modern economic theory (as found in
textbooks and taught in courses) the apex of the
progressive development of the science?
B.
As a positive science, don’t economists shed false
theories and adopt true theories?
If A and B are true, why study heterodox viewpoints?
Why should one study Radical
Economics?
“Recognize that many theories are short-lived and
that they often reflect the concerns of a particular
time period, and thereby come to a critical
understanding of contemporary theory.”
- Bruce Caldwell, Syllabus, History of Economic
Thought, EC 555, Fall 2003, UNC-Greensboro.
Why should one study Radical
Economics?
“Kuhn demolished the…theory…that scientific thought
progresses patiently, one year after another developing, sifting
and testing theories, so that science marches onward and
upward…[E]conomics can and has proceeded in contentious,
even zig-zag fashion, with later systemic fallacy sometimes
elbowing aside earlier but sounder paradigms, thereby
redirecting economic thought down a total erroneous or even
tragic path.”
- Murray Rothbard, Economic Thought before
Adam Smith, Edward Elgar, 1995, pp. ix-x.
My Biases
• (Anti-)Politics
– Individualist Anarchist
• Economics
– Austrian Eclectic
• Political Economy
– Free Market Anti-Capitalist
The difference of natural talents in different men is, in reality, much less than we are
aware of; and the very different genius which appears to distinguish men of different
professions, when grown up to maturity, is not upon many occasions so much the
cause as the effect of the division of labour. The difference between the most
dissimilar characters, between a philosopher and a common street porter, for
example, seems to arise not so much from nature as from habit, custom, and
education. When they came into the world, and for the first six or eight years of their
existence, they were, perhaps, very much alike, and neither their parents nor
playfellows could perceive any remarkable difference. …without the disposition to
truck, barter, and exchange, every man must have procured to himself every
necessary and conveniency of life which he wanted. All must have had the same
duties to perform, and the same work to do, and there could have been no such
difference of employment as could alone give occasion to any great difference of
talents.
As it is this disposition which forms that difference of talents, so remarkable among
men of different professions, so it is this same disposition which renders that
difference useful. …Among men…the most dissimilar geniuses are of use to one
another; the different produces of their respective talents, by the general disposition
to truck, barter, and exchange, being brought, as it were, into a common stock, where
every man may purchase whatever part of the produce of other men's talents he has
occasion for.
- Adam Smith, “Wealth of Nations,” Book 1, Chapter 2
No class on Thursday, August 28
Go Broncos!
No class on Thursday, August 28
18