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on History and Philosophy of Economics |
| By: | Dan-Andrei Năfureanu (UniBuc - University of Bucharest) |
| Abstract: | This review examines The Greatest of All Plagues (2024) by David Lay Williams, an intellectual history of economic inequality in the Western canon. Drawing its title from Plato's Laws, the book traces the concept of inequality -- understood through the recurring motif of pleonexia (insatiable greed) -- across seven influential figures: Plato, Jesus Christ, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx. Williams situates each thinker within their socio-economic context, arguing that philosophical reflection on inequality has consistently emerged in response to concrete historical crises and remains indispensable for contemporary political economy. While acknowledging the book's strengths - its interdisciplinary scope, close textual analysis, and contemporary relevance - the review also considers its limitations, including its exclusive focus on the Western canon and the practical inadequacy of some historical prescriptions. Nevertheless, it concludes that Williams offers a timely and philosophically rich intervention. By recovering neglected resources within canonical texts, the author challenges economists, political leaders, scholars and the wealthy elites alike to confront inequality as a structural and moral problem central to the fate of modern democracy. |
| Keywords: | History of Philosophy, Political Economy, Political Philosophy, Inequality, Greed |
| Date: | 2026–06–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05511717 |
| By: | Cantoni, Davide; Yuchtman, Noam |
| Abstract: | In 2024, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson (AJR) received the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. These three scholars were recognized “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.†This paper reviews the contributions of these three scholars to our understanding of the institutional causes of historical and contemporary economic development. We place their work in the context of the intellectual history of the fields of economics and economic history: these authors pioneered the quantitative analysis of historical natural experiments to identify the causal effects of political institutions. We then discuss a less widely discussed contribution of their work: the identification of historically contingent causal effects. Historical contingency, we argue, is at the heart of AJR’s conceptual and empirical insights. These insights clarify transformative processes in historical development, including: (i) European colonialism; (ii) the Atlantic Trade; and, (iii) the French Revolution. More generally, they have implications for how we think about the path-dependence of political institutions and economic development: history has a long shadow, but that shadow shifts over time. |
| JEL: | N00 B00 O1 P00 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20233 |
| By: | François Facchini (UP1 UFR02 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - École d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | History, and historians, strive to separate the wheat from the chaff. This exercise is commendable, but one must avoid errors in classification, lest one reject the wheat and retain only the chaff. When attempting to distinguish progressive intellectuals, who move with the times, from those who oppose social progress by defending the strong against the weak, immorality against morality, and self-interest against the common good, it is best to avoid mistakes. This article aims to correct such errors. It recalls, as is fairly well known, Keynes's openly eugenicist positions and refutes the rumors of racialism surrounding James Buchanan, based on work recently published in the journal Public Choice. |
| Abstract: | L'Histoire, et les historiens, s'emploient à séparer le bon grain de l'ivraie. L'exercice est louable mais encore faut-il ne pas se tromper dans les classements sous peine de rejeter le bon grain et de ne garder que l'ivraie. Lorsque l'on prétend distinguer les intellectuels progressistes, qui vont dans le sens de l'histoire, des intellectuels qui s'opposent au progrès social en défendant les forts contre les faibles, l'immoralité contre la moralité, l'intérêt égoïste contre le bien commun, mieux vaut ne pas faire d'erreur. Ce sont de telles erreurs que cet article entend corriger. Il rappelle, ce qui est assez bien connu, les positions ouvertement eugénistes de Keynes et dément les rumeurs de racialisme de James Buchanan sur la base de travaux publiés récemment dans la revue Public Choice à ce sujet. |
| Keywords: | Racialism, Corporatism, Eugenism, Keynes, Corporatisme, Eugenisme, Buchanan, Racialisme |
| Date: | 2025–10–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05598689 |
| By: | Papaioannou, Elias |
| Abstract: | The 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson, “for studies on how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.†This article reviews the laureates’ work, emphasizing how their big pictureapproach to long-run development and their broad analytical perspective blending history, economic theory based on class antagonisms, case studies, and an effort to move beyond correlations towards identifying causal effects have enriched and transformed the approach of shedding light on the old inquiry on the deep drivers of prosperity. I then discuss the vast subsequent research on the impact and origins of institutions and historical development, which has brought novel insights about the deep drivers of prosperity, testing old influential conjectures and expanding the set of questions. With authoritarianism on the rise and constitutional checks and balances challenged, the lessons from history and the new insights of this research agenda appear more topical than ever. |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20198 |
| By: | Eickmeier, Sandra |
| Abstract: | Economists recently have pointed to a critical disconnect between economic value and ethical values as a key societal issue. Using a survey of 2, 000 German households this paper reveals a misalignment between earnings and the values attributed to professions. Households prioritize professions addressing basic needs and benefiting society and nature over those offering personal utility, high remuneration, or economic growth, highlighting the importance of ethical considerations. This paper argues that values require a solid foundation rather than mere discussion or imposition. Linking values (and value) to awareness, it shows that more aware (along with more educated and informed) households favor professions supporting ethical values such as societal and environmental contributions, creativity, and beauty. Lastly, 60% of households support shifting societal values toward shared responsibility, though responses vary across households. |
| Keywords: | Economic value |
| JEL: | E3 E7 I3 Z1 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19948 |
| By: | Vyshnevskyi, Oleksandr |
| Abstract: | The article is devoted to the development of the General Economic Theory of Strategizing (GETS) as a metatheoretical framework for analyzing the normality–crisis cycle. The research aims to substantiate a universal metalanguage for describing cyclical phenomena at the macro, micro, and individual levels by integrating the objective correlation between goals and means with the subjective perception of the actor. Within the GETS framework, two key matrices are proposed: the Goal-Means Commensurability Matrix, which systematizes nine distinct states (three types of equilibrium, three paradoxes, and three types of crises), and the Normality-Crisis Perception Matrix, which distinguishes between normality, a manifest crisis, a latent crisis, and a false crisis. The findings demonstrate the high explanatory power of this new toolkit. The matrices successfully offer a common metalanguage that allows reinterpretation of leading theories of the economic cycle: Neoclassical (as rational adaptation through equilibria and paradoxes), Keynesian (focusing on manifest demand crises and the liquidity trap), Austrian (the paradox of resource wastage and the latent crisis of unsupported ambitions), and Marxist (inherent internal contradictions of capitalism) from the perspective of aligning the specific goals and means of each school. The uniqueness of this approach is validated through empirical case studies: the entrepreneurial biography and illness of Steve Jobs (individual level), the history of Nokia's mobile business (micro level), and the dynamics of the United States' economic and geopolitical standing since 1991 (macro level). The study identifies a “blind spot” in traditional theories, which resides in the state of false crisis. The proposed matrices offer prospects for creating a holistic theory of strategic behavior under uncertainty and provide a synthesis of economics and strategic management. |
| Keywords: | General Economic Theory of Strategizing, GETS, Normality-Crisis Cycle, Goal-Means Commensurability Matrix, Normality-Crisis Perception Matrix, latent crisis, false crisis. |
| JEL: | B41 B50 D81 E32 |
| Date: | 2026–05–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:129275 |
| By: | Dellas, Harris; Tavlas, George |
| Abstract: | The dollar shortage debate -- Paul Samuelson called it “the big open question of our time†-- dominated international macroeconomics in the fifteen years following the end of World War II. We revisit it through the lenses of modern theory, namely, the intertemporal approach to the current account with financial frictions. We argue that its key elements, exemplified by the views of its main protagonist, Charles Kindleberger, have a remarkably modern flavor. Kindleberger identified the dollar shortage with the balance of payments deficit, a theoretically deficient but practically relevant and useful measure. He made early use of the permanent income/intertemporal approach to the current account and linked the persistence of trade imbalances to the income elasticities of savings and investment as well as to the persistence of U.S. technological superiority. The main shortcoming of the debate was the focus on the behavior of the current account rather than on the capital account as the chief reason of the dollar shortage. We also argue that currency shortages in general, whether past or present, arise from financial frictions and can occur under different international monetary systems and financial systems. |
| JEL: | F14 F41 G15 N10 N20 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20073 |
| By: | Robinson, James A. |
| Abstract: | My research suggests that world inequality is explained by the incidence of extractive and inclusive institutions. But why do some countries have extractive institutions? I distinguish between two main reasons; first, power relations; second, the “normative order.†Normative orders provide justifications and legitimacy for institutions which may not generate prosperity, but may achieve other goals. These distinctions are critical because they create very different challenges in trying to make institutions more inclusive and create prosperity. I show how countries move from the economic periphery as a consequence of changing both. My own intellectual journey has been in the other direction, however, hence the title of the paper: I was fortunate to be born in Britain, but I have had to unlearn much of my own experience, socialization and training in order to see other societies on their own terms. That’s crucial to be able to help them, but also to learn from them. |
| Keywords: | comparative economic prosperity; Institutions; Political economy; Culture |
| JEL: | D63 D72 O47 P00 Z1 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20148 |
| By: | Oleynov, Anton |
| Abstract: | Economics has developed sophisticated accounts of how individuals make choices, yet it has devoted comparatively little attention to how individuals become capable of choosing meaningfully. While the capability approach expanded economic evaluation beyond utility and resources, and provides conceptual space for further extension, it leaves the developmental formation of agency under-theorized: it specifies the opportunities available to persons without fully explaining how the capacity to exercise those opportunities is formed. This article argues that agency formation, the developmental process through which persons acquire the capacity for self-directed choice, should be treated as a distinct object of economic evaluation. Drawing on the capability approach as a normative foundation, Archer’s account of reflexivity as a developmental mechanism, and Akerlof and Kranton’s analysis of identity costs as constraints on self-direction, the article develops a three-dimensional evaluative criterion that assesses capabilities, agency, and agency formation simultaneously. The criterion evaluates economic institutions not only by the opportunities they generate but by whether they cultivate or suppress the developmental processes through which agency emerges. Artificial intelligence serves as a theoretical stress test: by increasingly substituting algorithmic systems for human deliberation, it exposes the inability of choice-centered evaluation to register developmental losses associated with the outsourcing of judgment. An application to formal schooling demonstrates how this evaluative approach generates conclusions that neither human capital theory nor the capability approach can produce on their own. |
| Date: | 2026–07–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:aq7xh_v1 |
| By: | Francisco Orlando Rosales; Grace Yolanda Llerena; Giuliano Toshiro Yajima; Fernando Martin-Mayoral |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a bibliometric analysis of the Stock-Flow Consistent (SFC) literature from 1975 to 2026. The corpus includes 479 publications from Scopus, Web of Science, and expert-guided screening. Building on the classification proposed by Nikiforos and Zezza (2017), using keyword-based classification and manual validation, the paper maps the evolution of five major research areas: extensions of the core SFC framework, open-economy models, empirical SFC models, ecological SFC models, and SFC-agent–based models. The results show a clear expansion of the literature after the Global Financial Crisis, followed by further acceleration after 2017. Recent growth is especially visible in empirical and ecological SFC applications, as well as in works combining multiple research areas. The journal mapping also shows that, while SFC research remains strongly rooted in heterodox economics outlets, it has increasingly expanded into interdisciplinary and non-traditional journals. The paper contributes by updating the 2017 survey and documenting the diversification and broader diffusion of SFC research. |
| Keywords: | Stock-Flow Consistent Models; Macroeconomic modeling; ecological macroeconomics; bibliometric analysis |
| JEL: | E12 B41 E17 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_1126 |
| By: | Bordalo, Pedro; Gennaioli, Nicola; Lanzani, Giacomo; Shleifer, Andrei |
| Abstract: | Abstract We present a theory of choice in which attention to the features of options is determined by the decision maker’s categorization of the current problem in a set of problems she solved in the past. Categorization depends on goal-relevant and contextual problem-level features. The model yields heterogeneity in attention and choice in a given problem based on different past experiences and instability when changes in irrelevant context cause recategorization. We show that heterogeneous and unstable representations of a choice problem unify major biases in judgment and decision making. |
| Keywords: | 38 Economics (for-2020), 3801 Applied Economics (for-2020), 3802 Econometrics (for-2020), 3803 Economic Theory (for-2020), Behavioral and Social Science (rcdc), Mental Health (rcdc), 14 Economics (for), Economics (science-metrix), 3801 Applied economics (for-2020), 3802 Econometrics (for-2020), 3803 Economic theory (for-2020) |
| Date: | 2026–07–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:econwp:qt2hc7c06v |
| By: | Iliewa, Zwetelina; Kempf, Elisabeth; Spalt, Oliver G. |
| Abstract: | We examine nonpecuniary preferences across a broad set of corporate actions using a representative sample of the U.S. population. Our core findings, based on large-scale online surveys, are that (i) self-reported nonpecuniary concerns are large both for stock market investors and non-investors; (ii) concerns about the treatment of workers and CEO pay rank highest—higher than concerns about workforce diversity and fossil energy usage; (iii) Moral Foundations Theory emerges as an important framework for explaining nonpecuniary preferences. Combined, our findings provide new evidence on the importance of moral values as a key determinant of nonpecuniary preferences over corporate actions. |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20184 |