Anatole Kaletsky is chairing the conference I am speaking at later today. In his opening comments he talked of the Orwellian language of neoclassical economics:
- Rational expectations
- Perfect information
- Efficient markets
And much more, of course. And what Anatole knows and what we know is that all of this language is completely untruthful. What's more it's Orwellian: none of these things has the meaning that the language implies and the inverse is usually true.
As was said in opening comments this morning the analysis of the economy that I offered was more succinct and accurate. I said "it's stuffed".
It is. To make the economy work as neoclassical economics suggests it does requires perfect information, rational expectations, equal access to capital, and so much more. None of those assumptions hold true. At all. And all the language is Orwellian.
And the truth is if we are to Reinvent The Economy - which is what we are discussing - we have first to reinvent the language. And honesty of language is key to that change.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
There are links to this blog's glossary in the above post that explain technical terms used in it. Follow them for more explanations.
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
Quaker plain speaking is a good place to start.
I came across this today as well which relates to your criticisms of neoliberal economics.
http://www.desmog.uk/2014/09/10/i-bought-richard-tol-s-climate-economics-so-you-don-t-have-it-s-dull-and-dangerous
Thanks
I often wonder what planet these people are on
It’s not earth
On a related issue, I have been corresponding with someone in Ukraine who tells of how Russia have started rewriting textbooks to change the history of the region and have even started referring to parts of the Ukraine using a historic term which applied to a completely different part of Russia. Turkey has been doing the same with its Christian history for ages, destroying churches and then rewriting history.
It seems a bizarre paradox that we live in what is supposedly an age of information, and yet those in power, with the blind acquiescence of the media, are able to write their own fraudulent narrative which goes unchallenged by the majority.
The winner always writes history
There’s not much new here, just a shocking realisation of the truth
I like this From Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations:
“A picture held us captive. And we could not get outside it, for it lay in our language and language seemed to repeat it to us inexorably.”
Simon
Brilliant quote. Economics offers a rather crude & simplistic language to describe what is happening in the real world &, rather than expand the language, its’ adherents insist on narrowing their view of the real world.
It has now reached the point that, no matter how bad things are getting in the real world, economists sit in studios assuring audiences that employment is rising, GDP is rising & there is no problem. Don’t bother looking out your window at the poor,huddled in the streets, that isn’t real. We have no words for it in Economics & so it doesn’t exist. Just content yourself that all economic indicators are set fair for growth!
Hence, of course, Wittgenstein’s most famous quote;
“That whereof we cannot speak, thereof we must be silent”.
Wittgenstein was right
Broadcasters are always surprised when I refuse an invitation to comment on something saying I do nit know enough on the issue. It obviously does not happen often