Real-World Economics Review

from Tony Lawson and RWER current issue I fear, though, that many economists, even some that present themselves as radical thinkers, are too caught up in their own survival (or promotion ambitions, etc.) in the academy to move in a direction of any relevance. The convenient, often seemingly compulsory, recourse is to stay on the safe and (in truth far too) easy (if seemingly impressive to the non-mathematical) path to nowhere that is economic modelling. Already numerous self-styled...

from Clive L. Spash and Clíodhna Ryan and RWER issue 106 The aim of an economy should not be to grow so that a welfare State can be funded to ameliorate the social, health and ecological impacts of growth, but rather to engage directly in social provisioning that avoids exploitation and deliberate harm. Long ago, Kapp (1970) emphasised the social ecological imperative for reorienting economics towards policies addressing needs, the requirements of human life and social minima. This...

from Lars Syll Ainsi, la crise de 2008 a créé la surprise dans les rangs des économistes influents, qui croyaient voir le monde entrer au XXIe siècle dans le temps de « la grande modération » – c’est-à-dire la prévention des mouvements économiques erratiques grâce au pilotage « scientifique » des politiques monétaires … Cet épisode a sans conteste révélé une défaillance sévère du savoir économique … Pourquoi cette perte de confiance envers les analyses des économistes ? Nous vivons...

from Richard Parker and RWER issue 106 “If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competentpeople on a level with dentists, that would be splendid.” — John Maynard Keynes I cite The Master because I don’t think economists, working within “economics” in its present form can really address the crisis of limits we’re facing—but I do think men and women who work as economists can.  But only if they behave like dentists.  Let me explain. To review the last few years’...

from Dean Baker We have been seeing numerous stories in the media about how people support Donald Trump because he did such a great job with the economy. Obviously, people can believe whatever they want about the world, but it is worth reminding people what the world actually looked like when Trump left office (kicking and screaming) and Biden stepped into the White House. Trump’s Legacy: Mass Unemployment The economy had largely shut down in the spring of 2020 because of the pandemic. It...

from Clive Spash and Clíodhna Ryan and RWER issue 106 Economics fails not merely to account for biophysical limits to growth but to account for actual and potential alternative provisioning systems. Instead, talk of ‘the economy’ makes an implicit ontological claim that there is only a singular form of modern economy: the capital accumulating, price-making market economy. Economics has then become limited to a discussion of market capitalism and how it can be maintained in light of its...

Right-wing ranters in my Twitter timeline are pooh-poohing the whole climate discussion without doing their homework. So, here’s a little reader to aid and abet (sorry, early retired teacher and that all).Let’s start at the beginning:1. CO2 is measured at the Manua Loa station. Results are clear, robust, and stark: CO2 is increasing. And no, CO2 is not ‘following temperature’ as the latest lazymeme from the lazyright wants to have it. It’s following us. We’re causing it. A ‘mass...

from Andri Stahel and RWER issue 106 Imagine some interstellar anthropologists trying to understand our tribe, the earthlings. On the one hand, they would see a part of the tribe devoted to understanding the functioning of all our Earth systems. Called ‘scientists’, these tribe members command great respect and funds. This function was once held by the shamans and sorcerers who claimed to speak to the spirits who inhabited it; then, it was taken by the priests and theologians...

from Steve Keen and RWER issue 106 Human society is energy blind. Like a fish in water, it takes for granted the existence of that without which it could not survive. As with so many of humanity’s problems, this conceptual failure can be traced back to an economist. However, the guilty party is not one of “the usual suspects”—Neoclassical economists—but the person virtually all economists describe as “the Father of Economics”, Adam Smith. Smith led economics astray on the vital issue of...

from Neva Goodwin and RWER issue 106 A healthy economy is one that operates so as to achieve its goals, with relatively little of the overall economic activity working against them. There are obviously a great many things that can be said about what it takes to achieve this; here I will only address one set of requirements. This refers to the fourth essential economic activity mentioned above: maintaining the resources required for the other activities of production, distribution, and...