1st Edition

Political Economy After Economics Scientific Method and Radical Imagination

By David Laibman Copyright 2012
    276 Pages
    by Routledge

    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    This re-incorporation of economics into political economy is one (small, but not insignificant) element in a larger project: to place all of the resources of present-day social-scientific research at the service of increasing democracy, in an ultimate direction toward socialism in the classic sense. An economics-enriched political economy is, above all, empowering: working people in general can calculate, build models, think theoretically, and contribute to a human-worthy future, rather than leaving all this to their "betters."

    Preface.  Introduction  1. Value and Quest for the Core of Capitalism  2. Rhetoric and Substance in Value Theory: An Appraisal of the New Orthodox Marxism  3. Technical Change, Accumulation and the Rate of Profit Revisited  4. Okishio and His Critics: Historical Cost Vs Replacement Cost  5. Is There a Classical Theory of Supply and Demand?  6. Rationing and Price Control  7. Non-Constant Returns, Pareto Optimality and Competitive Equilibrium  8. Broadening the Theory of Aggregate Supply: A 'New Critical' Proposal  9. Revisioning Socialism: The Cherry Esplanade Conjecture  10. Incentive Design, Iterative Planning and Local Knowledge in a Maturing Socialist Economy

    Biography

    David Laibman is Professor of Economics at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York.

    "Laibman's essays express a genuine desire for knowledge and a willingness to engage with others in an open-minded but critical manner. His book tackles vital questions relevant not only to Marxist political economy but social sicence in general...Laibman's message that mathematical modeling, combined wtih deep and careful cirtical reflection, is necessary in order to bring 'science and emancipation together' is important. Only true ideas are effective, after all. Laibman's book should therefore interest all who share that goal." - Ian Wright, Department of Economics, The Open University, Science and Society