- Post-autistic economics
The movement for Post-Autistic Economics (PAE) was born through the work of
economist Bernard Guerrien . Started in Spring 2000 by group of disaffected French economics students, Post-Autistic Economics first reached a wider audience in June 2000 after an interview inLe Monde . [cite news |date=2000-07-17 |publisher=Le Monde |title=Open letter from economic students |url=http://www.autisme-economie.org/article142.html |accessdate=2007-04-04 ]It was supported by the Cambridge Ph.D. students in 2001 with the publication of "Opening Up Economics: A Proposal By Cambridge Students" [http://www.btinternet.com/~pae_news/Camproposal.htm "Opening Up Economics:A Proposal By Cambridge Students" (14 June 2001)] , later signed by 797 economists.
The term "autistic" is used in an informal way, synonymous to "closed-minded" or "self-absorbed".fact|date=April 2007 It has been criticized for using the medical diagnosis,
autism , as a derogatory expression.The movement is best seen as a forum of different groups critical of the current mainstream: from behavioral and heterodox to feminist, green economics and econo-physics.
Concept
PAE has challenged standard neoclassical assumptions and incorporated ideas from
sociology andpsychology into economic analysis. Specifically, the notions ofutility theory , rational choice, production and efficiency theory (Pareto optimality ), andgame theory have been criticised: one much-discussed article is " [http://www.autisme-economie.org/article115.html Is There Anything Worth Keeping in Standard Microeconomics?] ".Other topics include "Gross National Happiness", realism vs. mathematical consistency, "
Thermodynamics and Economics", or "Irrelevance and Ideology". Contributors include Bruce Caldwell,James K. Galbraith , Robert L. Heilbroner,Bernard Guerrien , Emmanuelle Benicourt,Ha-Joon Chang ,Herman Daly and Richard Wolff.Criticism of the Term
Some argueweal that a characterization of academic economics taught in today's colleges as autistic in the sense of closed-minded is unfair, since many branches of
post-modern economics reject classical economic world-views and heavy reliance on mathematics.References
Literature
*"Real World Economics: A Post-Autistic Economics Reader", ed. by Edward Fullbrook, Anthem Press, 2007, ISBN 1843312360
* Mark Blaug. "Ugly Currents in Modern Economics", "Policy Options", September 1997. Available as [http://www.irpp.org/po/archive/sep97/blaug.pdf PDF] .
* [http://www.public.iastate.edu/~c_r_p.484/postautistic.htm Peter Monaghan. "Taking on Rational Man: Dissident economists fight for a niche in the discipline", Chronicle of Higher Education, January 24, 2003.]
* Richard Smith, "Eco-suicidal Economics of Adam Smith," "Capitalism Nature Socialism", Volume 18 Number 2 (June 2007): 22-43. PDF at [http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10455750701366386]
* Fred Foldvary (ed). "Beyond Neoclassical Economics: Heterodox Approaches to Economic Theory," Edward Elgar Publishing, Aldershot, U.K., 1996.ee also
*
Behavioral economics
*Econo-physics
*Feminist economics
*Flyvbjerg Debate
*Green economics
*Heterodox economics
*History of economics
*Perestroika Movement (political science)
*Post-Keynesian economics External links
* [http://www.paecon.net Official site of the PAE organisation and newsletter]
* [http://www.paecon.net/PAEReview/index.htm The Post-Autistic Economic Review, a scholarly journal published by the movement]
* [http://www.airleap.org AIRLEAP]
* [http://www.neweconomics.org New Economics Foundation]
* [http://www.pcdf.org/ The People-Centered Development Forum]
* [http://www.public.iastate.edu/~c_r_p.484/postautistic.htm Article Taking On 'Rational Man' - Dissident economists fight for a niche in the discipline]
* [http://www.economiacritica.net Magazine and newsletter of post-autistic Spanish students]
* [http://www.autisme-economie.org/?lang=en Website of the french students movement for a reform of the teaching in economics]
* [http://adbusters.org/the_magazine/55/Kick_it_Over_The_Rise_of_PostAutistic_Economics.html Article 'Kick it Over! – The Rise of Post-Autistic Economics' in Adbusters magazine, 2004 Sept.]
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