The profession of economics requires a revolution in thinking if it
is to play a constructive role in solving the multiple and multi-dimensional
crises that so engulf our world, our species, and the fabric of human community. We are running out of time, write Kamran Mofid and Steve Szeghi.
Current speculation about a global shift in power away from the US is misleading. As economic globalisation continues, multinational corporations and financial institutions remain the “principal architects” of government policy around the world, says Noam Chomsky.
Evolutionary theory has been used by
free market fundamentalists to glorify competitiveness as central to human
survival. But biologists also point out that we are group animals: intensely
social, interested in fairness and highly cooperative, argues Frans de Waal.
Three decades after its inception, the ‘Tobin tax’ has
finally entered the mainstream political debate. Campaigners must now ensure its
primary purpose remains to redistribute finance away from the failed banking
system and toward benefiting the world’s poor, writes Anna White.
Those advocating for a ‘steady state’ economic model are vastly
outnumbered in mainstream policy circles. Yet there are signs that scepticism about the single-minded pursuit of economic growth may finally be catching on, reveals Susan Arterian Chang.
Of all the crises that afflict today's
world, the growing democratic
deficit may be the most severe. Only through dismantling the market
fundamentalism that drives public decision-making can true democracy be
restored, writes Noam Chomsky.
Rather than economic growth, waste is the most serious threat to the environment.
In switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy, the global economy could grow larger and sustainably feed an increasing population - without destroying the earth's ecosystems, argues Garry Lipow.
The present economic crises do not call for a "new
capitalism," but they do demand a new understanding of older ideas,
such as those of Adam Smith and Arthur Pigou - many of which
have been sadly neglected, argues Amartya Sen.
As critics proclaim the
death of neoliberalism amidst an international financial crisis, globalisation
theory is set to go into a tailspin. A short introduction to the academic globalisation
debate, by Adam W. Parsons.
The logic of free-market capitalism states that the economy must grow continuously or face an unpalatable collapse. With the environmental situation reaching crisis point, however, it is time to stop pretending that mindlessly chasing economic growth is compatible with sustainability, argues Tim Jackson.
