The Philosopher Economists

Neo-liberal doctrines have been fashionable among economists but are not much help for understanding the rapidity and violence of the current economic breakdown. It is not easy to see ourselves acting as homo economicus, possessed of perfect information, unerringly guided by rational choices and exalting in the absence of regulation. That worldview simply does not suggest a convincing narrative of what has been happening. It may, therefore, be time to revive other doctrines and revisit the great economic quarrels of the last century. Whatever the other consequences, we may hope for significant advances in the history of ideas. Two fine recent books – Robert Skidelsky’s on John Maynard Keynes and Christopher Chivvis’ on Jacques Rueff – are encouraging.

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