Pluralist Economics

This book is an authoritative and accessible guide to the pluralist movement threatening to revolutionise mainstream economics. Leading figures in the field explain why pluralism is a required virtue in economics, how it came to be blocked and what it means for the way we think about, research and teach economics. The first part of the book looks at how neoclassical economics gained its stranglehold, particularly in the United States, and how the social and intellectual underpinnings of economics have enabled it to maintain this in the face of inconsistent evidence from the real world. This is then contrasted with different approaches to pluralism. "Pluralist Economics" then goes on to address the array of arguments for establishing pluralism, showing how economics came to function as a concealed ideology and not as a science, and how value-free economics is an illusion. Finally, it addresses the practical problems presented by this different way of doing economics.

ISBN 1848130449   Pages 256 ISBN13 9781848130449 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Zed Books Ltd   Weight (grammes) 404 Imprint Zed Books Ltd   Published in London Format Paperback   Height (mm) 234 Publication date 01 Nov 2008   Width (mm) 153 Library of Congress HB135   Spine width (mm) 15 DEWEY 330   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

Notes on Contributors Introduction - Edward FullbrookPart I - What is Pluralism? 1. Neoclassical Economics: Three Identifying Features - Christian Arnsperger and Yanis Varoufakis 2. Pluralism, Formalism and American Economics - Harry Landreth and David Colander 3. The Construction of Economics - Kyle Siler 4. Paradigms and Pluralism - Robert F. Garnett, Jr. Part II - Arguments for Pluralism 5. Narrative Pluralism - Edward Fullbrook 6. Three Arguments for Pluralism - J. E. King 7. Economics as Ideology - Peter Soderbaum 8. Metaphor and Pluralism - Geoffrey Hodgson 9. Explanatory Pluralism - Jeroen van Bouwel Part III - Pluralist Practice in Economics 10. Beyond Talking the Talk - Andrew Kliman and Alan Freeman 11. In the Economics Classroom - Peter Earl 12. Some Practical Aspects - Thomas Mayer 13. Islamic Economics: A Case Study - Mohamed Aslam HaneefNotesReferences Index

'Edward Fullbrook's exceptional volume aims to challenge and counter the cavalier way mainstream economists dismiss theories and perspectives other than their own as "nonscience". Pluralism is long overdue in economics, and this is the best single introduction to what it means for the way we think about and use economics in the real world.' - David F. Ruccio, University of Notre Dame 'Edward Fullbrook has done it again, with an excellent and timely collection on an especially pertinent topic. This is an exceptionally insightful and thought-provoking book featuring work from significant contributors to modern heterodox economics' - Tony Lawson, University of Cambridge 'The call for a post-autistic economics expressed the frustration of students worldwide with a discipline that fails to engage actual economic problems, such as unemployment, inequality and financial crisis. In Pluralist Economics, Edward Fullbrook and his coauthors present the case for an eclectic, diverse, tolerant and relevant alternative. They show with special clarity how pluralism actually works in other disciplines, notably physics, and the value of metaphor and narrative in making arguments in social science persuasive.' - James K. Galbraith, University of Texas at Austin

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