Most economics majors today, like their counterparts fifty years ago, are unable to demonstrate r... more Most economics majors today, like their counterparts fifty years ago, are unable to demonstrate retained understanding of economic principles or to apply them to real-life situations (Stigler 1963; Bice et al. 2015). For their part, Ph.D. economists continue to experience their own chronic underdevelopment as teachers, due in part to the common view of teaching as " a generic, practical, instrumental activity largely divorced from the serious intellectual work of research " (Rowland 2006: 71). In this paper, I outline a reflexive strategy for addressing this teaching/learning stalemate. The goals, methods, and outcomes of undergraduate economics education could be substantially enhanced, I argue, if academic economists were to explore the diverse economic idioms that shape their assumptions and strategies as teachers and, in so doing, to realize the extent to which they are collectively committed to the liberal aim of enhancing students' intellectual freedom.
Economists have long interpreted Adam’s Smith’s two great works, The Wealth of Nations (WN) and T... more Economists have long interpreted Adam’s Smith’s two great works, The Wealth of Nations (WN) and The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS), as analyses of distinct social spheres: the impersonal realm of commerce and the interpersonal realm of sympathy and care. In this essay, I outline an alternative reading of Smith’s moral philosophy in which WN and TMS are understood as coextensive theorizations of a single object: the modern commercial society, the web of social cooperation that emerges as individuals direct their limited powers of care to particular persons and projects, guided by prevailing social norms and market prices and animated by the multiple virtues of Smithian self-love and “the naturall inclination every one has to persuade” (LJA vi.56: 352). Introduction The place of care in economic life is often told as a tale of two cages: an iron cage (a “harsh, depersonalized, masculine” marketplace) and a velvet cage (an “ethical, caring-laden sphere of authentic, non-monetized fam...
Abstract In “The Economic Machine and the Invisible Hand” (2009), Murray Milgate argues that the ... more Abstract In “The Economic Machine and the Invisible Hand” (2009), Murray Milgate argues that the mechanistic thrust of twentieth-century economics owes more to Paul Samuelson than to Adam Smith inasmuch as Samuelson’s Economics “unambiguously associated the invisible hand with the efficiency of perfectly competitive equilibrium.” The textbook model of perfect competition, though analytically a special case, conveys an ideologically potent vision of economic life as atomistic, amoral, and exclusively market-based. This essay presents a prima facie case for two related claims: (1) the textbook view of Adam Smith’s economics ignores the analytic symmetries and complementarities between Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) and Wealth of Nations (WN) and thus misrepresents the structure and implications of Smith’s moral philosophy, and (2) TMS and WN both theorize the behavioral, institutional, and ethical foundations for and enduring pathologies of extensive cooperation in commercial societies characterized by structural inequality, factionalism, elitism, ethnocentrism, and corruption.
ABSTRACT In response to Israel Kirzner’s claim that “culture lies outside the scope of economic t... more ABSTRACT In response to Israel Kirzner’s claim that “culture lies outside the scope of economic theory itself,” Storr advances a compelling vision of market processes in which price changes, profit/loss signals, and constitutional rules do their work only when refracted through culturally specific webs of meaning. Yet Storr provides few details about the analytic structure or consequences of his alternative approach and ultimately no answer to the Kirznerian question of how, or how fully, a culture-infused market process would eliminate incoherence of plans. Storr’s focus on the competing spirits that animate particular markets is congenial to Ludwig Lachmann’s emphasis on diverse interpretative frames through which individuals decode market signals. If pursued, the nascent Weber-Schütz-Lachmann trajectory of Storr’s cultural catallactics would showcase the distinctive strengths of the Austrian hermeneutic tradition as a radical alternative to the culturally disembedded Walrasian/Kirznerian market.
Most economics majors today, like their counterparts fifty years ago, are unable to demonstrate r... more Most economics majors today, like their counterparts fifty years ago, are unable to demonstrate retained understanding of economic principles or to apply them to real-life situations (Stigler 1963; Bice et al. 2015). For their part, Ph.D. economists continue to experience their own chronic underdevelopment as teachers, due in part to the common view of teaching as " a generic, practical, instrumental activity largely divorced from the serious intellectual work of research " (Rowland 2006: 71). In this paper, I outline a reflexive strategy for addressing this teaching/learning stalemate. The goals, methods, and outcomes of undergraduate economics education could be substantially enhanced, I argue, if academic economists were to explore the diverse economic idioms that shape their assumptions and strategies as teachers and, in so doing, to realize the extent to which they are collectively committed to the liberal aim of enhancing students' intellectual freedom.
Most economics majors today, like their counterparts fifty years ago, are unable to demonstrate r... more Most economics majors today, like their counterparts fifty years ago, are unable to demonstrate retained understanding of economic principles or to apply them to real-life situations (Stigler 1963; Bice et al. 2015). For their part, Ph.D. economists continue to experience their own chronic underdevelopment as teachers, due in part to the common view of teaching as " a generic, practical, instrumental activity largely divorced from the serious intellectual work of research " (Rowland 2006: 71). In this paper, I outline a reflexive strategy for addressing this teaching/learning stalemate. The goals, methods, and outcomes of undergraduate economics education could be substantially enhanced, I argue, if academic economists were to explore the diverse economic idioms that shape their assumptions and strategies as teachers and, in so doing, to realize the extent to which they are collectively committed to the liberal aim of enhancing students' intellectual freedom.
Economists have long interpreted Adam’s Smith’s two great works, The Wealth of Nations (WN) and T... more Economists have long interpreted Adam’s Smith’s two great works, The Wealth of Nations (WN) and The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS), as analyses of distinct social spheres: the realm of impersonal commerce and the realm of interpersonal care. In this essay, I outline an alternative reading of Smith’s moral philosophy in which WN and TMS are understood as coextensive theorizations of a single object: the modern commercial society, the extended order of cooperation and assistance that emerges as each citizen – propelled by the “imperfect but attainable virtues” of Stoic self-love (TMS VI I.ii. x.42) and informed by prevailing social norms and market prices – directs her labor and “limited powers of beneficence” to the care of those persons and projects that comprise her peculiar oikos.
ABSTRACT The rhetoric of economics has long claimed scientific objectivity, however the late, gre... more ABSTRACT The rhetoric of economics has long claimed scientific objectivity, however the late, great economist Joan Robinson argued that ‘the purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.’ This unique book examines the use of rhetoric in economics, focusing on the work of Deirdre McCloskey and other major economic philosophers. McCloskey is one of the most recognizable names in economics, yet this is the first real attempt to analyze her work in book form. She views economics as a language that uses all the rhetorical devices of everyday conversation, and her controversial standpoint on judging economics by aesthetic and literary standards has been hugely influential. Utilizing the views of Derrida and Foucualt among others, Benjamin Balak analyzes McCloskey’s major texts and critically evaluates the linguistic, literary and philosophical approaches they introduce. This long overdue examination of the methodological and philosophical consequences of McCloskey’s work will be of interest to philosophers and economists alike.
ABSTRACT The rhetoric of economics has long claimed scientific objectivity, however the late, gre... more ABSTRACT The rhetoric of economics has long claimed scientific objectivity, however the late, great economist Joan Robinson argued that ‘the purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.’ This unique book examines the use of rhetoric in economics, focusing on the work of Deirdre McCloskey and other major economic philosophers. McCloskey is one of the most recognizable names in economics, yet this is the first real attempt to analyze her work in book form. She views economics as a language that uses all the rhetorical devices of everyday conversation, and her controversial standpoint on judging economics by aesthetic and literary standards has been hugely influential. Utilizing the views of Derrida and Foucualt among others, Benjamin Balak analyzes McCloskey’s major texts and critically evaluates the linguistic, literary and philosophical approaches they introduce. This long overdue examination of the methodological and philosophical consequences of McCloskey’s work will be of interest to philosophers and economists alike.
In “The Economic Machine and the Invisible Hand” (2009), Murray Milgate argues that the mechanist... more In “The Economic Machine and the Invisible Hand” (2009), Murray Milgate argues that the mechanistic thrust of twentieth-century economics owes more to Paul Samuelson than to Adam Smith inasmuch as Samuelson’s Economics “unambiguously associated the invisible hand with the efficiency of perfectly competitive equilibrium.” The textbook model of perfect competition, though analytically a special case, conveys an ideologically potent vision of economic life as atomistic, amoral, and exclusively market-based. This essay presents a prima facie case for two related claims: (1) the textbook view of Adam Smith’s economics ignores the analytic symmetries and complementarities between Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) and Wealth of Nations (WN) and thus misrepresents the structure and implications of Smith’s moral philosophy, and (2) TMS and WN both theorize the behavioral, institutional, and ethical foundations for and enduring pathologies of extensive cooperation in commercial societies characterized by structural inequality, factionalism, elitism, ethnocentrism, and corruption.
Most economics majors today, like their counterparts fifty years ago, are unable to demonstrate r... more Most economics majors today, like their counterparts fifty years ago, are unable to demonstrate retained understanding of economic principles or to apply them to real-life situations (Stigler 1963; Bice et al. 2015). For their part, Ph.D. economists continue to experience their own chronic underdevelopment as teachers, due in part to the common view of teaching as " a generic, practical, instrumental activity largely divorced from the serious intellectual work of research " (Rowland 2006: 71). In this paper, I outline a reflexive strategy for addressing this teaching/learning stalemate. The goals, methods, and outcomes of undergraduate economics education could be substantially enhanced, I argue, if academic economists were to explore the diverse economic idioms that shape their assumptions and strategies as teachers and, in so doing, to realize the extent to which they are collectively committed to the liberal aim of enhancing students' intellectual freedom.
Economists have long interpreted Adam’s Smith’s two great works, The Wealth of Nations (WN) and T... more Economists have long interpreted Adam’s Smith’s two great works, The Wealth of Nations (WN) and The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS), as analyses of distinct social spheres: the impersonal realm of commerce and the interpersonal realm of sympathy and care. In this essay, I outline an alternative reading of Smith’s moral philosophy in which WN and TMS are understood as coextensive theorizations of a single object: the modern commercial society, the web of social cooperation that emerges as individuals direct their limited powers of care to particular persons and projects, guided by prevailing social norms and market prices and animated by the multiple virtues of Smithian self-love and “the naturall inclination every one has to persuade” (LJA vi.56: 352). Introduction The place of care in economic life is often told as a tale of two cages: an iron cage (a “harsh, depersonalized, masculine” marketplace) and a velvet cage (an “ethical, caring-laden sphere of authentic, non-monetized fam...
Abstract In “The Economic Machine and the Invisible Hand” (2009), Murray Milgate argues that the ... more Abstract In “The Economic Machine and the Invisible Hand” (2009), Murray Milgate argues that the mechanistic thrust of twentieth-century economics owes more to Paul Samuelson than to Adam Smith inasmuch as Samuelson’s Economics “unambiguously associated the invisible hand with the efficiency of perfectly competitive equilibrium.” The textbook model of perfect competition, though analytically a special case, conveys an ideologically potent vision of economic life as atomistic, amoral, and exclusively market-based. This essay presents a prima facie case for two related claims: (1) the textbook view of Adam Smith’s economics ignores the analytic symmetries and complementarities between Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) and Wealth of Nations (WN) and thus misrepresents the structure and implications of Smith’s moral philosophy, and (2) TMS and WN both theorize the behavioral, institutional, and ethical foundations for and enduring pathologies of extensive cooperation in commercial societies characterized by structural inequality, factionalism, elitism, ethnocentrism, and corruption.
ABSTRACT In response to Israel Kirzner’s claim that “culture lies outside the scope of economic t... more ABSTRACT In response to Israel Kirzner’s claim that “culture lies outside the scope of economic theory itself,” Storr advances a compelling vision of market processes in which price changes, profit/loss signals, and constitutional rules do their work only when refracted through culturally specific webs of meaning. Yet Storr provides few details about the analytic structure or consequences of his alternative approach and ultimately no answer to the Kirznerian question of how, or how fully, a culture-infused market process would eliminate incoherence of plans. Storr’s focus on the competing spirits that animate particular markets is congenial to Ludwig Lachmann’s emphasis on diverse interpretative frames through which individuals decode market signals. If pursued, the nascent Weber-Schütz-Lachmann trajectory of Storr’s cultural catallactics would showcase the distinctive strengths of the Austrian hermeneutic tradition as a radical alternative to the culturally disembedded Walrasian/Kirznerian market.
Most economics majors today, like their counterparts fifty years ago, are unable to demonstrate r... more Most economics majors today, like their counterparts fifty years ago, are unable to demonstrate retained understanding of economic principles or to apply them to real-life situations (Stigler 1963; Bice et al. 2015). For their part, Ph.D. economists continue to experience their own chronic underdevelopment as teachers, due in part to the common view of teaching as " a generic, practical, instrumental activity largely divorced from the serious intellectual work of research " (Rowland 2006: 71). In this paper, I outline a reflexive strategy for addressing this teaching/learning stalemate. The goals, methods, and outcomes of undergraduate economics education could be substantially enhanced, I argue, if academic economists were to explore the diverse economic idioms that shape their assumptions and strategies as teachers and, in so doing, to realize the extent to which they are collectively committed to the liberal aim of enhancing students' intellectual freedom.
Most economics majors today, like their counterparts fifty years ago, are unable to demonstrate r... more Most economics majors today, like their counterparts fifty years ago, are unable to demonstrate retained understanding of economic principles or to apply them to real-life situations (Stigler 1963; Bice et al. 2015). For their part, Ph.D. economists continue to experience their own chronic underdevelopment as teachers, due in part to the common view of teaching as " a generic, practical, instrumental activity largely divorced from the serious intellectual work of research " (Rowland 2006: 71). In this paper, I outline a reflexive strategy for addressing this teaching/learning stalemate. The goals, methods, and outcomes of undergraduate economics education could be substantially enhanced, I argue, if academic economists were to explore the diverse economic idioms that shape their assumptions and strategies as teachers and, in so doing, to realize the extent to which they are collectively committed to the liberal aim of enhancing students' intellectual freedom.
Economists have long interpreted Adam’s Smith’s two great works, The Wealth of Nations (WN) and T... more Economists have long interpreted Adam’s Smith’s two great works, The Wealth of Nations (WN) and The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS), as analyses of distinct social spheres: the realm of impersonal commerce and the realm of interpersonal care. In this essay, I outline an alternative reading of Smith’s moral philosophy in which WN and TMS are understood as coextensive theorizations of a single object: the modern commercial society, the extended order of cooperation and assistance that emerges as each citizen – propelled by the “imperfect but attainable virtues” of Stoic self-love (TMS VI I.ii. x.42) and informed by prevailing social norms and market prices – directs her labor and “limited powers of beneficence” to the care of those persons and projects that comprise her peculiar oikos.
ABSTRACT The rhetoric of economics has long claimed scientific objectivity, however the late, gre... more ABSTRACT The rhetoric of economics has long claimed scientific objectivity, however the late, great economist Joan Robinson argued that ‘the purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.’ This unique book examines the use of rhetoric in economics, focusing on the work of Deirdre McCloskey and other major economic philosophers. McCloskey is one of the most recognizable names in economics, yet this is the first real attempt to analyze her work in book form. She views economics as a language that uses all the rhetorical devices of everyday conversation, and her controversial standpoint on judging economics by aesthetic and literary standards has been hugely influential. Utilizing the views of Derrida and Foucualt among others, Benjamin Balak analyzes McCloskey’s major texts and critically evaluates the linguistic, literary and philosophical approaches they introduce. This long overdue examination of the methodological and philosophical consequences of McCloskey’s work will be of interest to philosophers and economists alike.
ABSTRACT The rhetoric of economics has long claimed scientific objectivity, however the late, gre... more ABSTRACT The rhetoric of economics has long claimed scientific objectivity, however the late, great economist Joan Robinson argued that ‘the purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.’ This unique book examines the use of rhetoric in economics, focusing on the work of Deirdre McCloskey and other major economic philosophers. McCloskey is one of the most recognizable names in economics, yet this is the first real attempt to analyze her work in book form. She views economics as a language that uses all the rhetorical devices of everyday conversation, and her controversial standpoint on judging economics by aesthetic and literary standards has been hugely influential. Utilizing the views of Derrida and Foucualt among others, Benjamin Balak analyzes McCloskey’s major texts and critically evaluates the linguistic, literary and philosophical approaches they introduce. This long overdue examination of the methodological and philosophical consequences of McCloskey’s work will be of interest to philosophers and economists alike.
In “The Economic Machine and the Invisible Hand” (2009), Murray Milgate argues that the mechanist... more In “The Economic Machine and the Invisible Hand” (2009), Murray Milgate argues that the mechanistic thrust of twentieth-century economics owes more to Paul Samuelson than to Adam Smith inasmuch as Samuelson’s Economics “unambiguously associated the invisible hand with the efficiency of perfectly competitive equilibrium.” The textbook model of perfect competition, though analytically a special case, conveys an ideologically potent vision of economic life as atomistic, amoral, and exclusively market-based. This essay presents a prima facie case for two related claims: (1) the textbook view of Adam Smith’s economics ignores the analytic symmetries and complementarities between Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) and Wealth of Nations (WN) and thus misrepresents the structure and implications of Smith’s moral philosophy, and (2) TMS and WN both theorize the behavioral, institutional, and ethical foundations for and enduring pathologies of extensive cooperation in commercial societies characterized by structural inequality, factionalism, elitism, ethnocentrism, and corruption.
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