Category: Heterodox Economics

An Alternative Economics Summer Reading List, 2019

Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven2 Comments

pasted image 0.pngThis summer, we take stock of the most interesting economics-related books that have been released over the past year. Every year, Martin Wolf of the Financial Times makes a similar list. However, by his聽, he only reads within the tradition of his own training in mainstream economics. While聽聽includes several excellent books, such as聽聽by Frances Coppola and聽聽by Victoria Bateman, we are still struck by the strong white-male-mainstream-Western bias in Wolf鈥檚 list, with the books almost all written by white (20/21) men (18/21) about topics mostly focused on the US and Europe.聽

To complement Wolf鈥檚 list, we have put together an Alternative Economics Summer Reading list with authors from across the world, with more varied backgrounds 鈥� and writing about more wide-ranging topics, and from a wider variety of critical perspectives. Our alternative list also reflects our belief that issues such as structural racism, imperialism, ideology and the philosophy of science are central to understanding economics.聽

It is not that we think that Martin Wolf is in particular responsible for the lack of diversity and monism in our reading decisions: other curators such as the Economist (for example,听) also perpetuate the myth that the books worth reading about economics are mostly those written about the US and Europe, by white men trained trained in mainstream economics.聽Read More »

Why so Hostile? Busting Myths about Heterodox Economics

Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven13 Comments

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By Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven and Carolina Alves

鈥淓conomics is unique among the social sciences in having a single monolithic mainstream, which is either unaware of or actively hostile to alternative approaches.鈥� (: 17)

What does heterodox economics mean? Is the label helpful or harmful? Being outside of the mainstream of the Economics discipline, the way we position ourselves may be particularly important. For this reason, many around us shun the use of the term 鈥渉eterodox鈥� and advise against using it. However, we believe the reluctance to use the term stems in part from misunderstandings of (and sometimes disagreement over) what the term means and perhaps disagreements over strategies for how to change the discipline.

In other words, this is an important debate about both identification and strategy. In this blog, we wish to raise the issue in heterodox and mainstream circles, by busting a few common myths about Heterodox Economics – mostly stemming from the orthodoxy. This is a small part of a larger project on defining heterodox economics.

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Samir Amin and Beyond

Ingrid Harvold KvangravenLeave a comment

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By Ushehwedu聽Kufakurinani, Ingrid Harvold聽Kvangraven and Maria聽Dyveke聽Styve

When the sad news came of Samir Amin鈥檚 passing on August 12th, 2018, a plethora of beautiful obituaries were published in his memory (see for example聽,听,听听辞谤听). These have made it more than evident not only how important his scholarship and work through the World Social Forum聽is, but also what an extraordinary person he was. We never had the privilege of meeting Samir Amin in person, but he was very kind to grant us an interview over Skype for an聽聽we put together in 2017 on the contemporary relevance of dependency theory (since published by the聽). Now we wish to unpack his contributions to our understanding of political economy and uneven development, and explore how his ideas have been interpreted and聽adopted in different contexts,听and their relevance today.

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Revisiting the Battles and Cycles of Development

Abel B.S. Gaiya1 Comment

(1959) infamously put forth a five-stage theory of economic development, extrapolating from the experiences of the great industrialized nations. However, as dependency theories strongly pointed out, the conditions under which those countries industrialized is significantly different from those that prevailed after decolonization. In addition to this, democratic capitalism experiences turbulence, which I argue makes development under this global system a struggle against powers and against what I call 鈥淏urawoyan Cycles鈥�.Read More »

Economic Development in the 21st Century: A Review

ramiroealvarezLeave a comment

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by Ramiro Eugenio 脕lvarez (University of Siena) and聽Santiago Jos茅 Gahn (Roma Tre University)

What drives economic development? What is the nature of the external constraints that developing economies face? What is the role of industrial policy and the central banks in the development process? These were the core questions that were posed in the recent webinar series on Development in the 21st Century, organized by the of the . These four meetings were particularly oriented towards examining notions such as distribution, patterns of specialization, industrial policies and balance of payment constraints. The discussion of such phenomena is especially important in a context of deep academic divides regarding the drivers of economic development.

Following the tradition of the Latin American structuralist school, the meetings placed special emphasis on the inherent challenges of conditions associated with being in the periphery when the problem of development is faced. During the meetings, processes of economic integration that perpetuate asymmetric economic relations of the center-periphery type were examined, as well as the role played by public institutions, e.g. central banks, in the development of industrial economies.Read More »

Keynes or New-Keynesian: Why Not Teach Both?

rohitazad3 Comments

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For economists, the Great Recession, the worst crisis the world economy has seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s, has highlighted the need for plurality in macroeconomics education. Ironically, however, there is a move towards greater insularity from alternative or contrasting points of view. Where as, what is required for vibrant policy making is an open-minded academic engagement between contesting viewpoints. In fact, there does not even exist a textbook which contrasts these contesting ideas in a tractable manner. This blog post is as an attempt to provide certain pointers towards developing macroeconomics in a unified framework.

Macroeconomics as a subject proper came into existence with the writings of John Maynard Keynes[i]. There were debates during his time about how to characterise a capitalist economy, most of which are still a part of the discussion among economists. Keynes argued that capitalism is a fundamentally unstable system so the state needs to intervene to control this instability.Read More »

Marx鈥檚 Birthday and the Dismal Science: A Few Observations

Carolina Alves3 Comments

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by Carolina Alves and Ingrid H. Kvangraven

With 2017 marking the 150th anniversary of and 2018 marking the bicentennial of the birth of Karl Marx, it is not a surprise that the number of events and exhibitions celebrating Marx’s work and exploring the significance of Marxism in the world today have gone through the roof. A little sample,,, and (see also The Guardian鈥檚 of exhibitions, books 鈥� and pub crawls)! And it would be unfair to not mention the British Library鈥檚 offered last summer, which aimed to develop ideas for events and activities that would engage the public and research communities with Marx鈥檚 life and his wider legacy (with a brilliant emphasis on – a writer and political activist in her own right). Some of the results can be seen,, and.

Of course, Friedrich Engels鈥� far-reaching contributions have not been ignored ( and ); and neither should contributions, who, like Mary Burns, have never been a[1] and, before falling in love with the Jewish romantic rebel, was a woman interested in French socialism and German romanticism, engaged in an early feminist views on women鈥檚 equality, and committed to the struggle for the working-class (influenced by her father). Hence, Jenny鈥檚 possible allusion that Marx was 鈥淕oethe鈥檚 Wilhelm Meister and Schiller鈥檚 Karl von Moor, and he would be Shelley鈥檚 Prometheus, chained to a precipice because he dared to challenge a tyrannical god鈥� (, p. 20).

Putting aside this rich line-up of events, what has caught our attention is the equal proliferation of pieces celebrating Marx鈥檚 birthday, for the better or for the worse. From misleading and derogatory articles such as the published by The Economist to educational short pieces such as Cooper鈥檚, it is difficult to not wonder about the reasons behind such opposing views. Similarly, it is difficult to resist the temptation to add a little contribution to the debate. So here we are.

We will not dwell on Marx鈥檚 contributions and current relevance, which has been done effectively by so many academics, political activists and journalists. Neither will we unpack and discuss the issues with value-laden opinions on Marx鈥檚 economic theory, and simple-minded association of Marx鈥檚 political ideas with historical events of the 20th century. We will, however, for the sake of being one more blog post on Marx鈥檚 200th birthday, reiterate and explore Marx鈥檚 work鈥檚 undeniable and vital influence in contemporary thought, politics and political practice. Further, and perhaps the main inspiration that led us to write this blog post, we wish to add some more thoughts on Marx鈥檚 influence (or lack thereof) 聽in modern times, namely the effects of the marginalization of his ideas in the field of Economics.Read More »

What is missing in the 鈥�33 Theses for an Economics Reformation鈥�

Erik ReinertLeave a comment
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Andrew Simms (New Weather Institute), Sally Svenlen (RE student), Larry Elliott (Guardian), Steve Keen (Debunking Economics) and Kate Raworth (Doughnut Economics) symbolically nail the 鈥�33 Theses鈥� to the door of the London School of Economics in December 2017. .

By Erik Reinert (Talinn University of Technology) and (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya)

On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther鈥檚 Reformation, were formulated by Rethinking Economics and the New Weather Institute. The document was symbolically nailed to the door of the London School of Economics In December 2017 and , and was supported by an impressive list of over 60 leading academics and policy experts. The initiative offers a rare and most welcome refreshing message from the House of Economics.

Several elements in the theses are long overdue 鈥� for example, the existence of planetary limits, the superiority of political deliberation over economic logic, the appreciation of the role of uncertainty in economic predictions, the non-independence of facts and values when economic thoughts are formulated, the warning against over-reliance on modelling, econometrics and formal methods. Also important is the indication that both growth and innovation need to be conceived with a desirable end in sight, one which can be associated with material and spiritual progress 鈥� rather than with misery, inequity and inequality. It is finally all important that in the teaching of economics itself the history and philosophy of economics should be taught, together with all economic theories: not just the family tree of mainstream economics.Read More »