If economics moved in the direction responding to much of the current critique in so many books and articles it would be much less mathematical-and more narrative. Could such a transition be made? Who would teach what? And when done, what jobs would there be? I think this refocus is needed if we are to help prepare society for tough times coming (The simultaneity of climate, inequality, authoritarian governments, automation, pollution impacts)

We have made an economics that helps the flow of financialization but is self contained. The result is that much of the critique, and lots of the posting on INET reflect this, uses the current vocabulary to critique the current practices. Is it possible with the economic vocabulary to construct alternative approaches that go beyond critique? The vocabulary we use is adequate to the financialization of the economy but that vocabulary, for example economic man and rational expectations mandate stripping out human concerns. A common example is talking about income in developing countries in terms like “Income has gone from $1.25 to 1.65 in the last decade, ” with no concern for the surrounding prices, availabilities, or general living conditions, as though 1.65 tells us that. Imagine a good reporter from Buzzfeed or an anthropologist telling us what they see. Even the idea of inequality is inequality in money terms, which might be different from inequality focused on an economy of quality of life, or family quality (employment is up, hooray. Both parents of little children can now go to work. Uh oh.) rather than consumer centered.

I think it is important to reflect on how all societies were until quite recently able to function without economics. What would happen if we just removed economics but not the economy (leaving in place accounting and all the material conditions which form the ensemble economists reify as “the economy”) from this society?
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