Economic Indeterminacy: A personal encounter with the economists’ peculiar nemesis

Description

This volume is a collection of some of the best and most influential work of Yanis Varoufakis. The chapters all address the issue of economic indeterminacy, and the place of a socialized Homo Economicus within the economy. The book addresses Varoufakis’ key interpretation regarding the way in which neoclassical economics deals with the twin problems of complexity and indeterminacy. He argues that all neoclassical modelling revolves around three meta-axioms: Methodological individualism, Methodological instrumentalism and the Methodological Imposition of Equilibrium. Each chapter in preceded by an introduction, which explains its place within the overarching theme of the book. The volume also includes a lengthy introduction, plus a concluding chapter focusing on the future of economics. It will be a key work for all students and researchers in the field of political economy and economic methodology. Cover......Page 1 Title Page......Page 14 Copyright Page......Page 15 Dedication......Page 16 Table of Contents......Page 18 List of figures......Page 20 List of tables......Page 21 Preface......Page 23 Acknowledgements......Page 26 1 Introduction: Economic indeterminacy and the dance of the meta-axioms: the dynamic mechanism by which neoclassical economics turns defeat at the hands of indeterminacy into unassailable dominance......Page 28 2 Unity is strength: it is also the cause of indeterminacy regarding the wage and employment preferences of employers and trades unions......Page 54 3 Rational conflict: on the impossibility of a determinate theory of costly disagreement......Page 96 4 No bluffing please, we are economists! Why bluffs and other subversive acts preclude determinate game theoretical analyses......Page 129 5 Bargaining by rules of thumb: when strategic indeterminacy forces the rational negotiator to fall back on myopic rules of thumb......Page 161 6 Marxists and the sirens’ song: when disgruntled Marxists reach for neoclassical economics’ toolbox they get more than they bargained for......Page 184 7 A theory of solidarity: why indeterminacy is a prerequisite for genuine solidarity......Page 209 8 On the power of what others think: how indeterminacy explodes when our preferences are influenced directly by other people’s beliefs......Page 237 9 The social foundations of corruption: on the indeterminate power of what others think......Page 271 10 Evolving morals in the laboratory: the roots of distributional justice principles in indeterminacy......Page 289 11 Evolving domination in the laboratory: the spontaneous creation of hierarchies and the patterned beliefs that support them......Page 311 12 On the distinction between evolution and history: the impossibility of modelling behavioural mutations amongst political animals......Page 338 13 Conclusion: dealing with indeterminacy on the stage of social life......Page 361 References......Page 375 Index......Page 386