Who Put the “Dismal” in the “Dismal Science”? 0

One quality that Playboy and Reader’s Digest share is this: You can pick up an old issue of either and always find something to read.

I did that last week and discovered an excellent article in the June 2012 issue of Playboy by Tim Schultz entitled “These Rogues Of The Dismal Science Have Been Vindicated By The Economic Crash. How Much Longer Can Mainstream Economists Ignore The Heterodox?”

The thumbnail version is this: “Neoclassical” economists, the dominant school these days, believe that persons always act in rational ways* and that, consequently, economic behavior and outcomes can be predicted with the use of computer models. As a result of their touching faith in human rationality, neoclassical economists are constantly getting stuff wrong, such as the string of bubbles we have witnessed in the last three decades.

“Heterodox” economists, very much a minority, believe that human economic behavior is subject human qualities, such as greed, pride, predatory behavior, and so on. In other words, they tend to view economics much more as a social science, akin to sociology or psychology, than as a hard science, similar as physics. (You can guess to which view I am partial.)

I have not found the article available on-line without a subscription, but you can read about it at Alternet. I urge you to do so.

_________________

*Clearly, none of them drive cars or pay attention to the roads.