Economics Unmasked

From power and greed to compassion and the common good

Economics Unmasked cover

Description

An inspiring outline of a new economics system, where justice, human dignity, compassion and reverence for life are the guiding values.

The economic system under which we live not only forces the great majority of humankind to live their lives in indignity and poverty but also threatens all forms of life on Earth. Economics Unmasked presents a cogent critique of the dominant economic system, showing that the theoretical constructions of mainstream economics work mainly to bring about injustice.

The merciless onslaught on the global ecosystem of recent decades, brought about by the massive increase in the production of goods and the consequent depletion of nature's reserves, is not a chance property of the economic system. It is a direct result of neoliberal economic thinking, which recognizes value only in material things. The growth obsession is not a mistaken conception that mainstream economists can unlearn, it is inherent in their view of life. But a socio-economic system based on the growth obsession can never be sustainable.

This book outlines the foundations of a new economics, where we are not ruled by greed and injustice. Contrary to the absurd assumption of mainstream economists that economics is a value-free science, a new economics must make its values explicit.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction: the case for a new economics

From knowledge to understanding
The function of economics in society
Keynesianism: its rise and fall
Honesty and value premises
Imitation of the exact sciences: reductionism, mathematical models and Pareto
Economic growth
Globalization
Compassion
The world on a collision course and the need for a new economics
A humane economics for the twenty-first century
The United States: an underdeveloping nation
A non-toxic teaching of economics
Implementation: from the village to a global order

References and notes
Index

Product details

Published Aug 30 2011
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 1st
Extent 200
ISBN 9780857840325
Imprint Green Books
Illustrations Graphs and charts.
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Manfred Max-Neef

Manfred Max-Neef is a Chilean-German economist in…

Author

Philip B. Smith

Philip Bartlett Smith was an American-Dutch experi…

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