Of possible interest, especially to aspiring economics profs. Sally >X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Unverified) >Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2000 23:12:05 -0400 >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: Jim Stanford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: PEF: "Post-Autistic Economics" >Mime-Version: 1.0 >X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by >watserv1.uwaterloo.ca id IAA28052 >Status: > >Dear PEF Members & Friends; > >PEF member Marjorie Cohen has circulated this notice, which is >simultaneously amusing and shocking. > > >>sanity, humanity and science >>post-autistic economics newsletter >>No. 1, September 2000 >> >>FRANCE >> >>The French economics mainstream is in a state of shock and apprehension >>following dramatic and unexpected events late in June. >> >>On the 21st the influential Paris daily, Le Monde, featured a long article >>under the headline "Economics Students Denounce the Lack of Pluralism in >>the Teaching Offered". Economics students at the �cole Normale Sup�rieure, >>France's premier institution of higher learning, were circulating with >>great success a petition protesting against an excessive mathematical >>formalisation. >> >>The petition notes "a real schizophrenia" created by making modelling "an >>end in itself" and thereby cutting economics off from reality and forcing >>it into a state of "autism". The students, said a sympathetic Le Monde, >>call for an end to the hegemony of neoclassical theory and approaches >>derived from it, in favour of a pluralism that will include other >>approaches, especially those which permit the consideration of "concrete >>realities". >> >>Le Monde found French economists of renown, including Michel Verni�res, >>Jean-Paul Fitoussi and Daniel Cohen, willing to speak out in support of the >>students. Fitoussi, current head of the jury of the economics' agr�gation, >>said that "the students are right to denounce the way economics is >>generally taught" and that the over-use of mathematics "leads to a >>disembodiment of economic discourse". Daniel Cohen, economics professor at >>the �cole Normale Sup�rieure, spoke of "the pathological role" played by >>mathematics in economics. Meanwhile, The Minister of Education, Jack Lang, >>assured Le Monde that he would study closely the appeal from the students. >> >>French radio and television also reported the students complaints and >>confirmed their legitimacy. On the 21st, BFM said that it was now >>recognized that "the teaching of economics no longer had any relation with >>the real world" and that "this discipline is going through an undeniable >>crisis". Also on the 21st, L'Humanit� quoted extensively from the >>students' open letter, while noting that in recent years several renown >>economists had expressed similar views. >> >>On the 23rd, Les Echos reported that a government report on university >>economics teaching had reached conclusions similar to those of the >>students. In their lengthy article, Les Echos noted that it is >>increasingly recognized that economics' "malaise is general and of >>longstanding" and that "under the guise of being scientific" it has >>cultivated an anti-scientific environment "which leaves no room for >>reflection and debate". >> >>On the 26th, the weekly, Marianne, carried an article about the student >>petition against "dogmatism" in the teaching of economics and for its >>replacement by "a pluralism of explanations". Marianne said that the >>petition, which was now on the Web, had 500 signatures, as well as growing >>support from economics teachers and interest from the highest levels of the >>French government. >> >>On June 30th, Le Nouvel Economiste, referring to the students' petition and >>"mobilisation", declared that economics had succumbed to a "pathological >>taste for a-priori ideologies and mathematical formalisation disconnected >>from reality." Economics, it continued, should give up its false emulation >>of physics and "should instead look to the human sciences". >> >>In July, French media interest continued to fuel the mobilisation. On the >>3rd, La Tribune featured a long article titled "Why a Reform of the >>Teaching of Economics". It began by saying that all concerned parties >>agree that economics is in crisis and that "a debate should be opened on >>this subject" and that the students' initiative aimed to bring this about. >>Economics, said La Tribune, had become lost in "mondes imaginaires" and >>"l'�conomie de Robinson Cruso�" and intellectually enfeebled by "the >>dogmatism that reigns in the teaching of the discipline." Alternatives >>Economiques carried an article titled "The Revolt of the Students" which >>noted that French Nobel Prize winner, Maurice Allais had, despite his >>mathematical approach, come to conclusions similar to those of the >>students. >> >>L'Express, France's equivalent to Time, carried an article "L'�conomie, >>science autiste?", which aired the students' analysis and complaints. It >>also reported that the students' petition now had more than 600 signatures, >>and that their teachers were now starting a petition of their own in >>support. >> >>On the 22nd of July, Politis reported on the students' cause and on the >>"autism" into which economics had fallen in consequence of its "obsession >>to produce a social physics". Politis noted that student support for the >>petition was widespread, including not only students from the most >>prestigious universities, but also from the less celebrated, both in Paris >>and in the provinces. "Pluralism should be part of the cultural base of >>economists." Instead, "neoclassical theory dominates because it rests on a >>simple set of axioms, easily mathematized." The coming academic year, >>concluded Politis, "promises to be agitated." >> >>We have learned that the economics students' petition now has 800 >>signatures and the economists' petition 147. The latter includes some of >>the most illustrious names in French economics, e.g., Robert Boyer, Andr� >>Orl�an, Michel Aglietta, Jean-Paul Fitoussi and Daniel Cohen. It concludes >>by calling for "a national conference that will open a public debate for >>all." >> >>UNITED STATES >> >>At last month's 10th World Congress of Social Economics at the University >>of Cambridge, American participants reported that in the USA the purge of >>non-neoclassical and non-mathematically oriented economists from university >>faculties continues. >> >>Conferees spoke of the increasing "stalinization" of the profession. >>Unlike in France where the fight-back has begun, in the States there are >>not yet signs of the formation of the critical mass needed to turn >>economics away from 19th century dogmas. It is agreed , however, that the >>number of academic economists in American who are out of sympathy with the >>orthodoxy comprise a sizeable minority. But they are fragmented, often >>intimidated and lack the means of joining together to exert their >>collective weight and moral authority. Meanwhile, it was agreed, the >>American economics' clock runs backwards. >> >>American economists at the World Congress traded horror stories about the >>new wave of neo-classical "stalinization". History of economic thought >>courses are now being targeted as sources of ideas whereby students might >>question or place in perspective orthodoxy. The goal is to create >>"history-free environments" in which students can be indoctrinated "more >>efficiently" into the neo-classical/mainstream belief system. For example, >>it was reported that from this fall the University of North Carolina is >>discontinuing all history of thought courses. >> >>American participants also bemoaned plunging standards of literacy among >>economics graduate students and colleagues as a consequence of the >>mathematics fetish. The illiteracy problem is said to be particularly >>acute among new economics PhDs, many of whom are incapable of reading with >>comprehension a page of complex prose, such as one from The General >>Theory. >> >>UNITED KINGDOM >> >>The ideas expressed by the French students will have a familiar ring to >>readers of Tony Lawson's Economics and Reality (1997). But in Lawson's UK >>it is reported that economics students, although restless, are not yet >>rebellious. Meanwhile it is rumoured that a French translation of >>Economics and Reality is imminent. >> >>BELGIUM >> >>Interest in the reform campaign launched in France spread quickly to >>Belgium. On June 24th under the heading "Economie autiste", the daily, Le >>Soir, both reported on the events in France and offered its own analysis of >>neoclassical economics as a quaint political ideology masquerading as >>science. >> >>A week later Le Soir featured a lengthy article on the crisis in economics. >>It draws on a recent report by Michel Verni�res, commissioned by the French >>government to investigate the teaching of economics. Verni�res emphasises >>that economic theories are devices for conceptualizing reality. >>"Pedagogically, it is therefore essential to articulate conceptual >>reflection and empirical investigation. . . . [and] to underline the >>plurality of approaches and the overall coherence of these approaches." >> >>Bernard Paulr�, referring especially to neoclassical theory, said that >>mathematics is often used to hide "the emptiness of the propositions and >>the absence of any concern for operational relevance." He said that in >>addition to a-priori axioms, it is necessary for economics "to take account >>of institutions, of history, of the strategies of actors and of groups, of >>sociological dimensions, etc.." >> >> This newsletter aims to link people wishing to bring sanity, humanity and >>science back to economics. To this end, YOU may help significantly by >>forwarding this issue to 10 sympathetic colleagues and/or students. >> YOU may also help by emailing relevant news items, thoughts and >>suggestions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> To subscribe to the post-autistic economics newsletter, send a blank >>email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >
