The Programming Approach And The Demise Of Economics. Volume I, A revival Of Myrdal, Frisch, Tinbergen, Johansen And Leontief

Description

In this book – the first of three volumes – Franco Archibugi sets out to create an epistemology of economics, arguing for a radical overturning of the conventional analysis from a “positive” approach to a “programming” approach. This overturning leads to a reappraisal of the foundations of Economics itself, and to an improved integration of Economics as an autonomous discipline alongside Sociology, Political Science, Operational Research, Social Engineering and Physical or Spatial Planning. The author interrogates how scientific the social sciences really are before proposing a new scientific paradigm for the social sciences, a political preference function and a general programming approach. The chapters revisit hitherto neglected economists like Gunnar Myrdal, Ragnar Frisch, Vassili Leontief, and Leif Johansen, using their theory to overturn the epistemological approach of the entire science of economics. Volume II explores oppositions to the traditional and conventional teaching of economics, whilst Volume III presents a concrete and practical example of how to build a Planning Accounting Framework (PAF), as associated with Frisch’s ‘plan-frame’ (explored in Volume II), to demonstrate the extent to which decisions and negotiations can be routed in the social sciences. Front Matter ....Pages i-cxliv How Scientific Are the Social Sciences? (Franco Archibugi)....Pages 1-39 Towards New Scientific Paradigms for the Social Sciences (According to Myrdal) (Franco Archibugi)....Pages 41-82 Planning and Planning Theory: The Difficult Legacy of Ragnar Frisch (Franco Archibugi)....Pages 83-153 Basic Requirements for the Programming Approach (Franco Archibugi)....Pages 155-182 The ‘Programming Approach’ (Franco Archibugi)....Pages 183-206 The Political Preference Function (Franco Archibugi)....Pages 207-234 The Impact of the Programming Approach on Socio-Economic Modelling (Franco Archibugi)....Pages 235-292 The methodology of the ‘Central Planning’ for the implementation of the ‘Programming Approach’ (The great role of Jan Tinbergen) (Franco Archibugi)....Pages 293-353 The Pitfalls of Implicit Theorising and the Abuse of Indirect Statistical Inference: Leontief’s Criticism (Franco Archibugi)....Pages 355-389 Back Matter ....Pages 391-435