Power and Neoclassical Economics: A Return to Political Economy in the Teaching of Economics

by A. Ozanne

Overview

Mainstream economics almost completely ignores the role power plays in determining economic outcomes, which means it can only provide partial explanations of the distribution of wealth and income, and of the problems associated with inequality and poverty. For many, this is a fundamental failing that severely limits its relevance to the real world and is the source of much dissatisfaction with, and cynicism about, economics and economists. Ozanne explains how this neglect of power has come about over the past 150 years and why it is important. He reviews various definitions and theories of power from across the social sciences and proposes a new approach that could bring considerations of power back into standard economic theory and economics teaching. The approach is simple and intuitive, involving little more than re-envisioning the social welfare function as a 'political economy function'. However, if adopted in economics teaching, it could radically change the way young economistsare taught to think about economic problems and lead to a 'return to political economy'.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781137553720
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	03/22/2016
Edition description:	1st ed. 2016
Pages:	101
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.01(d)

About the Author

Adam Ozanne has degrees in physics and astronomy, rural development, and agricultural economics. He also began a DPhil in nuclear astrophysics but abandoned it and went instead to teach maths and physics in Pakistan and work for a Third World development agency. He is now a Senior Lecturer teaching economics at the University of Manchester, UK.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
1. Introduction
2. Why does Neoclassical Economics Ignore Power?
3. Why Power Matters for Economics
4. Challenges to Mainstream Economics from PCES and Piketty
5. Political Economics and Cooperative Game Theory
6. The Concept of Power
7. Bartlett's Economic Theory of Power
8. A New Definition of Power
9. Re-envisioning the Social Welfare Function as a Political Economy Function
10. Examples of Applications of the Political Economy Function
11. Conclusion
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

In this well-written, well-presented and highly readable book, Adam Ozanne provides a thought-provoking attempt to reintroduce the lost discussion of power into mainstream economics. … I find this an interesting, ambitious book with an intelligent rhetoric.” (Heterodox Economics Newsletter, Issue 195, April, 2016)

“Adam Ozanne has written a very interesting, short book on the strange absence of the concept of power from mainstream modern economics. … I very much liked the book – ie. warmly agree with the general argument. … I’ll be thinking more about the specific means of incorporating power in economics that the book suggests; it certainly looks promising.” (Diane Coyle, The Enlightened Economist, enlightenmenteconomics.com, April, 2016)

From the Publisher