---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Great Transition Network <[email protected]> Date: Sat, Nov 21, 2015 at 1:52 AM Subject: The Church of Economism and Its Discontents (GTN Discussion) To: [email protected]
>From John Stutz <[email protected]> ------------------------------------------------------- In his insightful and provocative essay, Richard Norgaard invites us to consider today's uncritical economic thinking as a modern secular religion, the Church of Economism. He draws our attention to the problematic mindset and views of the church's believers and its “priests,” that is, the professional economists, particularly their insularity and unwarranted self-assurance. An article entitled “The Superiority of Economists,” which appeared in Winter 2015 issue of the open access Journal of Economic Perspectives provides substantial support for this portion of Norgaard's argument ( www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.29.1.89). It provides an extended discussion of insularity in economics, showing that it is far greater than in the other social sciences. For example, it presents the results of a survey which asked respondents drawn from a range of social sciences whether they agreed or disagreed that "In general, interdisciplinary knowledge is better than knowledge obtained by a single discipline." The majority of those in every discipline except economics agreed. In economics, the majority disagreed. Commenting on this stark divergence, the article observed that, compared to other social scientists, economists have a distinctive confidence in the superiority of their discipline, and so are unlikely to feel the need to rely on other disciplines or even to acknowledge their existence. A variety of evidence presented or cited in the article supports this observation. Why does a sense of superiority arise among economists? It is due in large part to their view that they alone have a well-established knowledge base similar to that possessed by physical scientists or engineers and so are better positioned than the others to find the right answers to a wide range of society's problems. As Norgaard notes, this "physical science delusion" is observed by students when they are taught economics, and they are discomforted by it. This delusion is fully accepted and provides the basis for discussion within economics. This is made quite clear in a 2006 NBER working paper – “The Macroeconomist as Scientist and Engineer” ( www.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/Macroeconomist_as_Scientist.Mankiw.pdf) -- by N. Gregory Mankiw, a well-known Harvard economist, advisor to President Bush, and author of best-selling introductory textbook. Mankiw starts his discussion by arguing that developing theories with mathematical precision and testing them using sophisticated statistical techniques applied to huge data sets makes economists substantially similar to physicists. The fact that one group studies inanimate objects and the laws that govern their behavior while the other deals with conscious human beings and the social relationships among them is apparently of no importance to the professor. It does not receive a mention, let alone a serious discussion, in his paper. The sense of superiority based in large part on the physical science delusion and the insularity to which it leads are two of the pillars upon which the Church of Economism rests. They shape the type of church it is. Rather than being ecumenical and respectful of others, it is closed and disdainful. In short, it is a church of just the type one hopes not to see. John Stutz ----- Original Message ----- Transition Network [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, October 30, 2015 2:50 PM Stutz Church of Economism and Its Discontents (GTN Discussion) >From Paul Raskin ----- GTN Friends: I write to launch our NOVEMBER DISCUSSION, which will consider Richard Norgaard’s new GTI essay, “The Church of Economism and Its Discontents.” Please read it at www.greattransition.org/publication/the-church-of-economism-and-its-discontents, and consider commenting. Is orthodox economics akin to a secular religion? Are we living in the “Econocene”? Is there a way out? Norgaard, a founder of ecological economics, argues yes, yes, and maybe. In so doing, he guides us further into the terrain of alternative economics we’ve explored recently in our discussions of GTI pieces by Herman Daly, Giorgos Kallis, Peter Barnes, and John Bellamy Foster. I wonder, though: * Is economism still a monolithic ideology? Or are critical currents within the economics mainstream increasingly questioning its reductionist framework and false predictions? * As a framing for our contemporary condition, is “the Econocene” a useful corrective to the geologic emphasis of “the Anthropocene”? How do these compare to GTI’s term, “The Planetary Phase of Civilization,” which aims to convey the multi-dimensionality of the globalizing social-ecological system? I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts on these and other issues raised by Norgaard’s stimulating essay. Comments are welcome through NOVEMBER 30. Looking forward, Paul Raskin GTI Director NOTE ON GTI’S PUBLICATION CYCLE: GTN discussions occur in ODD-NUMBERED months, and GTI publishes in EVEN-NUMBERED months. Each discussion takes up a new essay or viewpoint prior to its publication. After the discussion closes, GTI publishes the piece, edited comments from the discussion, and a response from the author (along with other new articles). You can review all GTN discussions at www.greattransition.org/forum/gti-forum. ----- Hit reply to post a message Or see thread and reply online at www.greattransition.org/forum/gti-discussions/171-the-church-of-economism-and-its-discontents/1365 Need help? Email [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------- Hit reply to post a message Or see thread and reply online at http://www.greattransition.org/forum/gti-discussions/171-the-church-of-economism-and-its-discontents/1417 Need help? Email [email protected] -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/
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