ECON 325Radical 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/

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Grading

• Two term papers• Class participation (primary discussant)• Three exams• Extra credit

– John Allison– Salman Rushdie

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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

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No class on Thursday, August 28

Go Broncos!

No class on Thursday, August 28

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What is Radical Economics?

Catalog Course Description

Analysis of radical political economic thought and its applications to the study of socio-economic problems. Topics include Marxian socialist economic theory, libertarianism, anarchist theory, evolutionary economictheory, 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

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