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on Post Keynesian Economics |
| By: | Heise, Arne |
| Abstract: | The article discusses the ongoing debate about a potential paradigm shift in eco-nomics. Institutions like the Institute for New Economic Thinking, the New Economics Foundation, and the Forum New Economy have been established to foster new approaches to understanding and transforming economies. While some main-stream economists see this as a significant and positive change, many heterodox economists remain sceptical, recalling past failed revolutions in economic thought, like the 'Keynesian revolution'. The article examines whether purported changes in economic policy indicate a true paradigm shift in the scientific sense (à la Kuhn) or just variations within the existing neoclassical framework. Despite some studies suggesting a paradigm shift is underway, it is argued that these shifts in policy do not necessarily stem from fundamental changes in economic theory. Instead, they represent swings within the dominant paradigm, such as the rise of behavioural or Schumpeterian economics, rather than a complete overhaul of the discipline. The article concludes that while mainstream economics may become more diverse, this should not be mistaken for a revolutionary change. Heterodox economists must continue to advocate for broader acceptance and genuine transformation in the discipline, rather than assuming that time alone will bring about such changes. |
| Keywords: | New Economics, paradigm shift, Post Keynesianism, heterodox economics |
| JEL: | B40 B51 B52 E11 E12 E13 E14 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cessdp:305296 |
| By: | Thomas Palley |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of different varieties of capitalism (VoC) on societal happiness. It begins with a critique of Neoclassical welfare economics which emphasizes Pareto optimality, and it argues for focusing on reported societal happiness. The paper identifies five VoC. Using a sample of twenty-six high-income countries drawn from the 2020 World Happiness Report, the paper shows societal happiness is systematically impacted by variety of capitalism type. Social Democratic economies report higher happiness levels. The US benefits from its standing as global economic hegemon, but it still reports lower happiness than Liberal and Social Democratic economies owing to its adverse societal relations. The public policy implication is the Social Democratic variety of capitalism produces greater societal happiness. More generally, happiness analysis can fill a gap in VoC theory and strengthen it by providing an operational form of welfare analysis. Making happiness the focus of attention will also likely change how economists interpret economies, which stands to change both economic theory and policy. |
| Keywords: | Happiness, varieties of capitalism, US hegemon, Liberal, Social Democratic, East Asian, Mediterranean Corporatist |
| JEL: | D6 P0 P1 P5 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imk:fmmpap:108-2024 |
| By: | Alexandre Chirat; Ulysse Lojkine |
| Abstract: | We investigate the concept of economic power in the three main paradigms of economic thinking in the 20th century: neoclassical, marxist and institutionalist. We propose a reconstruction, based on a new taxonomy, of the various forms of power conceptualized by each of them. In particular, we claim that the neoclassical paradigm contains a consistent although often implicit theory of power. We then show that many controversies between these paradigms were debates on power and that some shifts in mainstream economics in the 1970s and 1980s are a reaction to the criticisms leveled against the neoclassical conceptualization of power. |
| Keywords: | Power – Markets – Consumer sovereignty – History of economics |
| JEL: | B20 B40 L00 P00 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2024-31 |
| By: | Jonathan Colmer; Suvy Qin; John Voorheis; Reed Walker |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the relationships between air pollution, income, wealth, and race by combining administrative data from U.S. tax returns between 1979–2016, various measures of air pollution, and sociodemographic information from linked survey and administrative data. In the first year of our data, the relationship between income and ambient pollution levels nationally is approximately zero for both non-Hispanic White and Black individuals. However, at every single percentile of the national income distribution, Black individuals are exposed to, on average, higher levels of pollution than White individuals. By 2016, the relationship between income and air pollution had steepened, primarily for Black individuals, driven by changes in where rich and poor Black individuals live. We utilize quasi-random shocks to income to examine the causal effect of changes in income and wealth on pollution exposure over a five year horizon, finding that these income–pollution elasticities map closely to the values implied by our descriptive patterns. We calculate that Black-White differences in income can explain ~10 percent of the observed gap in air pollution levels in 2016. |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:24-57 |