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CHICAGO FUNDAMENTALISM
Ideology and Methodology in Economics
by Craig F Freedman (Macquarie University, Australia)
Cold-war ideology infected the development of economics in ways its practitioners were often not fully aware. The Chicago counter-revolution against the dominant post-war triumph of Keynesian analysis had an essential subtext, a perceived struggle between freedom and collective slavery. Ideological objectives subsequently influenced methodological concerns, pushing economists to adopt the zero-sum tactics of the courtroom rather than the mutually beneficial manners of the senior common room. In these ideologically charged times, economists stopped reading opposing views carefully, seeking instead to dismiss, out of hand, uncongenial ideas.
In this collection of previously published and new material, Craig Freedman examines the problem of ideology through the reflection cast by the architects of the Chicago counter-revolution, George Stigler and Milton Friedman. The second half of the volume demonstrates the legacy of these ideological fires, namely a profession where the methodology of careless reading and zero-sum exchanges have persisted and come to dominate.
Contents:
- Resurrecting the Chicago Revolution — The Cold War and the
Economics Profession:
- George Stigler:
- Power without Glory — George Stigler’s Market Leviathan
- Countervailing Egos — Galbraith versus Stigler
- George Stigler as a Dissertation Supervisor
- Milton Friedman:
- Entre Nous: A Review of the Friedman–Stigler Correspondence
- Not for Love nor Money: Milton Friedman’s Counter-Revolution
- Method or Madness — Why Methodology Matters:
- Why Economists Can’t Read
- Animal Spirits in His Soup: A Look at the Methodology and Rhetoric of the General Theory
- Court Jesters, House Gadflies and Economic Critics
- and other papers
Readership: Academic and general public.
| 480pp (approx.) |
Pub. date: Scheduled Fall 2008 |
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