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Article
Publication date: 1 August 2000

Erik S. Reinert

Through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, European science slowly lifted itself out of the fog of Mediaeval scholasticism. A rational, quantified and mechanised world…

2424

Abstract

Through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, European science slowly lifted itself out of the fog of Mediaeval scholasticism. A rational, quantified and mechanised world picture emerged. In 1769 an essay questioned why economics benefited so little from the use of mathematics and quantification. Today the opposite may be argued – the increasing loss of relevance of economics is associated with the use of mathematics. Based on Francis Bacon’s criticism of scholasticism, it is argued here that strong parallels exist between the decay of scholasticism and the decay of modern economics. From being a science of practice, late neoclassical economics has degenerated into “working upon itself”, as Bacon says about late scholasticism. Since the 1769 essay, economics has come “full circle”. The problem for economics is not then mathematics per se – mathematics is just one language in which science may decay.

Details

Journal of Economic Studies, vol. 27 no. 4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3585

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 15 October 2019

Harald Hagemann

In his bestselling The Worldly Philosophers, Robert Heilbroner puts the focus on the visions and analyses of the great economic thinkers from Adam Smith to Joseph A. Schumpeter…

Abstract

In his bestselling The Worldly Philosophers, Robert Heilbroner puts the focus on the visions and analyses of the great economic thinkers from Adam Smith to Joseph A. Schumpeter. Worldly philosophy is considered as a child of capitalism and worldly philosophers as system-builders addressing the long-run development of the economy and the society. This implies viewing the economy as historically and institutionally situated demanding a more interdisciplinary perspective and embedding economics in the social sciences. The article compares the work of Heilbroner and Adolph Lowe who was Heilbroner’s main mentor. The focus is on their reflections on Smith and Schumpeter. Heilbroner considered Smith as the first worldly philosopher of whose Wealth of Nations a German translation was published already in 1776 in Stuttgart, Lowe’s native city. Lowe’s early work on business cycles was strongly inspired by Marx and Schumpeter’s emphasis on the role of capital accumulation and technical progress as well as Schumpeter’s distinction between statics and dynamics. Lowe was forced to emigrate from Nazi Germany in spring 1933, only half a year after Schumpeter’s move to Harvard where Heilbroner studied in the late 1930s when Schumpeter enjoyed making provocative statements on the Great Depression which was still not yet overcome.

Details

Including a Symposium on Robert Heilbroner at 100
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-869-7

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 October 2020

Andrew Farrant

This chapter explores a number of relatively unknown aspects of the controversy over Milton Friedman’s March 1975 visit to Chile through the analytical framework provided by James

Abstract

This chapter explores a number of relatively unknown aspects of the controversy over Milton Friedman’s March 1975 visit to Chile through the analytical framework provided by James M. Buchanan’s late 1950s assessment of the economist-physician analogy. The chapter draws upon a range of archival and neglected primary sources to show that the topics which generally rear their head in any contemporary discussion of Friedman’s visit to Chile – for example, whether it is appropriate to provide policy advice to a dictator – were aired in a largely private mid-1970s exchange between Friedman and a number of professional associates. In particular, the controversy over Friedman and Chile began several months before Friedman arrived in Santiago.

Details

Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on Sir James Steuart: The Political Economy of Money and Trade
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-707-7

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on Public Finance in the History of Economic Thought
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-699-5

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 November 2023

Thabo J. Gopane

This study examines the impact of regional economic integration (REI) on stock market linkages in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) economic bloc. In this…

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the impact of regional economic integration (REI) on stock market linkages in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) economic bloc. In this type of study, the BRICS framework is an appealing empirical case, given its uncommon characteristics. For example, BRICS member states come from remote geographic locations (Africa, Asia, Europe and South America) and have contrasting socioeconomic profiles.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical design is framed from the perspective of bilateral trade between South Africa and BRIC. The author accepts trade intensity as a proxy of regional economic integration and then examines the resulting effect on the stock market co-movement within BRIC. The study applies a two-step econometric procedure of the BEKK-MGARCH and panel data models.

Findings

Overall, bilateral trade, as a proxy of economic inwctegration, is associated with an increase in stock market integration. This positive relationship is particularly observed during episodes of surplus trade, and more interestingly, was initiated three years after BRICS’ existence and continues to grow at an increasing rate.

Practical implications

The study outcome should benefit international trade practitioners and global investors interested in portfolio diversification or concerned with risk spillovers.

Originality/value

First, notwithstanding South Africa's significant economic presence in the African continent, to the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to empirically evaluate the BRICS economic integration on their stock market linkages from the perspective of South Africa. The value of this contribution is that further work may investigate the bidirectional spillover impact conveyed by South Africa's trade interactions within the juxtaposition of Africa and BRICS economies. Second, given that research on REI and stock market integration has historically concentrated on mature regional blocs of Europe, Asia, South and North America, the current study advances knowledge while correcting the prevailing literature imbalance.

Details

Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, vol. 28 no. 56
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2077-1886

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 September 2008

Simon Mouatt

The aim of this paper is to examine the proposition that the monetary reform movement has correctly identified the central importance of money‐issue whilst, simultaneously, not…

440

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to examine the proposition that the monetary reform movement has correctly identified the central importance of money‐issue whilst, simultaneously, not appreciated the sophistication of previous monetary theorists.

Design/methodology/approach

The Classical, Keynesian and Marxian monetary traditions are explored within the context of the views of the monetary reformers, as espoused by Stephen Zarlenga of the American Monetary Institute.

Findings

The monetary reform movement has presented a far too simplistic view of previous monetary theorists yet identified an underdeveloped arena for research.

Practical implications

The development of understanding towards a state theory of money.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to theoretical knowledge regarding the political economy of money creation.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 35 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1999

Michael Keaney

The British National Health Service (NHS) has experienced various phases of reform and reorganisation during the last 15 years. During this time it has been suggested that the…

1291

Abstract

The British National Health Service (NHS) has experienced various phases of reform and reorganisation during the last 15 years. During this time it has been suggested that the role of the patient is analogous to that of the consumer. Meanwhile there has been increasing application of the techniques of health economics. This paper examines the rationale for these developments, placing them in wide historial context, and arguing that far from being a passive consumer of pre‐packed healthcare, patients ought to be considered as partners in a continuing process of inquiry, in accordance with John Dewey’s philosophy of instrumentalism. As a result it is argued that the present commodification of healthcare in the UK should be halted, in order to preserve and build on the achievements of the NHS.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 26 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2003

K.C. Fraser

74

Abstract

Details

Reference Reviews, vol. 17 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0950-4125

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 11 August 2020

Phil Mullan

Abstract

Details

Beyond Confrontation: Globalists, Nationalists and Their Discontents
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83982-560-6

Book part
Publication date: 23 December 2010

Richard van den Berg

From well before the mid-19th up to the mid-20th century those scholars who read and commented on The Essential Principles of the Wealth of Nations, including Marx and Seligman…

Abstract

From well before the mid-19th up to the mid-20th century those scholars who read and commented on The Essential Principles of the Wealth of Nations, including Marx and Seligman, seem to have been unaware of the very name of its author. Since then it has become accepted knowledge (again) that the work was written by one John Gray. Beyond the name, however, biographical details about Gray have remained extremely sparse until the present day. If one were to use a measure of obscurity, something which perhaps is appropriate in a work devoted to ‘neglected economists’, then one may use the fact that neither the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (old or new editions), nor the Palgrave Dictionary of Economics (any edition), nor any other biographical dictionaries devote an entry to Gray. The modern authors who discuss his economic writings contend themselves with the statement that ‘little biographical information is available about Gray’ (Delmas & Demals, 1995, p. 119, n. 5).1 This is unfortunate because at least some knowledge about the personal background and career of an author is often useful in arriving at a better understanding of his or her ideas. This, as will become clear shortly, is the case too for John Gray.

Details

English, Irish and Subversives among the Dismal Scientists
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-061-3

21 – 30 of 88