Adolph Löwe's Political Economics: Instrumentalism as Enlightened Intervention

A bstract Adolph Lowe's work was dedicated chiefly to developing "political economics" as a foundation for economic theory and instrumental analysis to direct a politically free economy along the path of economic growth
This paper argues that the public management inherent in instrumentalism is not likely to be acceptable in the U S or the U K, except in national economic emergency Yet, the formerly planned economies of central and eastern Europe, whose history is one of stringent control, may have a political preference for a Lowe type of instrumentalism to avoid the results of uncontrolled market processes
The reception accorded Lowe's political economics by economists, as members of a professional community, reflects their methodological preferences and policy views Those who are skeptical of the market clearing capability of the price mechanism, and explain capitalist development as an ongoing historical process, are more likely to be appreciative of instrumental analysis as a policy tool     

Adolph Lowe's Paradigm Shift for a Scientific Economics: An Interpretive Perspective

A bstract . The economist Adolph Lowe has developed a methodological alternative, designated Political Economics , for the development of economic theory and the application of economic policy. In totality his system—with a methodology he calls instrumental—makes up a unity that can be seen as a logically derived paradigm shift for economics as a scientific discipline. Under it, by a democratic political process , some desired end-state is first consciously and systematically determined. Then economic means are instrumentally employed to bring about the economic and social behavior necessary to attain and maintain that end-state. Available knowledge and tools are useful for this model; however, there is no question that the approach raises significant technical, political and philosophical issues. But these are overshadowed by Lowe's paradigmatic vision, and its corollary modular framework of Political Economics.     

The Neoclassical Model Enriched by the Structure of Control:

A bstract Traditional neoclassical theory treats the economic sphere as if it can be detached from its surrounding social and political environment. It assumes connections between the social/political spheres and the economic sphere are weak, and no change of significance occurs in the social and political environment during the period considered Social and political conditions are treated as "given" and, more often than not, the conditions of this given environment are neither specified nor studied A broader economics is needed
The Virginia School has represented a connection between political control and distributive outcomes with its rent-seeking analysis The flaw in their argument, that exposes their ideological bent, is their failure to extend the analysis to the distributive impact of control in the social sphere. This piece is an attempt to make that extension, and to demonstrate that a specific historical case, women s experience in World War II , cannot be fully understood without bringing that social dimension into the analysis     

The Evolution of the Allied Social Science Associations

The organization of the meetings of the approximately 50 economics associations of the Allied Social Science Associations has evolved over the past 140 years, beginning with meetings of the American Social Science Association in 1865, which included social scientists from political science, history, sociology, and economics. Out of this association, the separate disciplines formed their own organizations beginning in the 1880s. Though several of these associations continued to meet together until the 1930s, each discipline gradually separated its meetings from those of the others. During the 1940s, however, other newly formed economics associations began meeting at the same time and place as the AEA, and the Allied Social Science Associations evolved out of these meetings. Though the name of the organization includes “social science,” the associations meeting together are predominately, if not completely, economics associations. These associations, however, profess many different approaches to the study of economics. This paper traces the evolution of these meetings and attempts to come to some conclusions concerning the significance of this association, the most important of which is the role of the ASSA in providing a broad and tolerant platform and a vehicle through which different points of view toward economic theory and policy can be discussed.     

History of the Meetings of the Allied Social Science Associations Since World War II

The Allied Social Science Associations is a marketing name for an annual three‐day, citywide conference of about 9,000 economists that is organized, managed, and controlled by the American Economic Association (AEA). AEA invites the participation of about 50 additional (i.e., allied) economics‐related societies that organize the scholarly content of a portion of the ASSA meetings. It is this broader meeting that operates under the ASSA flag. Although the AEA has met periodically with other social science associations since the 19^th century, the current format dates back to the 1960s. The convention rotates among approximately 10 large U.S. cities. A centralized staff at AEA headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee has managed the convention since 1986. The ASSA name was first used on the conference program in 1952.     

The Academic Mind and the Rise of U.S. Imperialism: Historians and Economists as Publicists for Ideas of Colonial Expansion

A bstract . The role of American learned societies in developing support for an American colonial foreign policy has been neglected. Evidence indicates that American learned societies, in the period following the Spanish-American War from 1898 to 1901, were intellectually predisposed toward an imperial policy. The debates within the American Historical Association , the American Economic Association , and the American Academy of Political and Social Science are described and analyzed. Each learned society abandoned the ivory tower" and mixed in impassioned politics. The "imperial" interpretation led historians to endorse empire as salutary; economists endorsed the role of the State in building markets for domestic production; and prevailing Social Darwinistic views of political economy led the Academy of Political and Social Science to support an activist, acquisitive foreign policy as necessary to the national interest. Dissident, anti imperialist scholars as well as skeptical scholars could not turn the imperial mood of these societies.     

Against the New Economic Imperialism: Some Reflections

Classical political economy recognised that what needed analysing, explaining, and acting on was an economic system inextricably linked to the wider political and social systems. Smith and Ricardo, as well as Marx, saw class and the distribution of income as key. Neoclassical economics replaced these social and collective categories with the individual consumer and the marginal product of labour as the fundamental analytical categories—the "political" having been discarded. Yet even one of the founders of neoclassical economics, Alfred Marshall, would barely recognise nor accept what is today presented as economic analysis, ignoring as it does the key industrial and organisational detail underlying production. The "new political economy" claims to incorporate insights from other disciplines. But far from enriching economic analysis, these new strands of theory simply impose the assumptions and methods of neoclassical economics. We argue that this new economic imperialism needs to be replaced with a genuinely multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach to analysing economic issues.     

Henry George's Challenge to the Economics Profession

A bstract . A session of the American Economic Association and the History of Economics Society commemorating the centennial of the publication of Progress and Poverty , while correctly assessing some of Henry George's writing as hyperbole, raised two important issues; George s legitimacy as an economist and his analysis's significance for economics. Our generation sins on the side of illogic too, but George's status has been questioned not only out of snobbishness but because he was perceived as unsafe; he raised "dangerous" fundamental issues. He questioned the terms of access to and use of land as channeled by real property and other rights and he asked whether the institution of landed property was anachronistically suited to the enjoyment and wealth of some as contrasted to all people.     

Max Weber as an Economist and as a Sociologist

A bstract In this article I first give a picture of Weber as an economist, mainly by focussing on a text which he distributed to his students when he taught economics in the 1890s. From this text it is, for example, clear that Weber was positive to the use of marginal utility theory in theoretical economics, but also felt that this approach was insufficient, by itself, to analyze empirical phenomena. I then outline Weber's work in economic sociology, relying primarily on Economy and Society and its central Chapter 2 ("Sociological Categories of Economic Action"). The differences between the approaches of economic theory and economic sociology, as seen by Weber, are summarized, and an account is given of some of Weber's most suggestive concepts in economic sociology. In the concluding section the question is raised as to when the analyst, according to Weber, should use economic sociology rather than economic theory, and vice versa. Weber's ideas about a broad economic science–what he termed Sozialökonomik or social economics–are also presented.     

The Archaic, the Obsolete and the Mythical in Neoclassical Economics

A bstract . The assumptions of omniscient rationality and of optimizing behavior of neoclassical economics are serious flaws in that theoretical system. By imitating Newtonian mechanics , by going back to 18th century psychology and philosophy and to Benrtham's rationalism and hedonism, and by assuming the ideal world of perfect competition , neoclassical economics had to ignore its psychological dimension and thus focus on the behavior of a simple and abstract "economic man" , who lacks social, ethical and political dimensions, and who is not a creature of habit, hunches, impulses, etc. The rationality postulate cannot be tested empirically and economic behavior is much too complicated to warrant use of the classical optimization techniques of Newtonian mechanics. Economics , dealing with open systems and being an evolutionary science , once again is not logically consistent with the application of classical Newtonian optimization techniques.     

DEIRDRE McCLOSKEY'S THE BOURGEOIS VIRTUES: ETHICS FOR AN AGE OF COMMERCE

In the Economic Viewpoints section we welcome extended reviews of important works on economics and political economy. Deirdre McCloskey's The Bourgeois Virtues is one of the most ambitious and important works published in classical liberal political economy for at least half a century.     

A Reconsideration of the Rationality Postulate: 'Right Hemisphere Thinking' in Economics

A bstract . The cardinal postulate of neoclassical economics is that individuals and entrepreneurs seek to maximize their unique positions in the world. Yet behind this postulate is an even more fundamental premise: that men are rational and can discern their own best interests. From Adam Smith on, it has been accepted that reasonable men act to maximize their own pecuniary advantage and in most economic models even the potential for irrationality is ignored. Nevertheless, it is becoming increasingly obvious from the research conclusions of other disciplines ( psychology, philosophy, political science, and sociology in particular) that the simplistic notion of " economic man ," posited so often in the economics literature, is more fancy than fact. There is an implicit recognition that the neoclassical assumptions may not be correct in the developing area of economic behaviorism. The economic behaviorists, however, adopt a more general definition of rationality, substituting what might be called a "modified rationality postulate" for the global rationality assumed in neoclassical theory. As a result, their conclusions do not differ greatly from those of the neoclassicists. Fortunately, ideas are now crystallizing in psychology which may enable us to shed light on decisions which previously would have had to be classified as non-rational, irrational, or unexplainable. Some of those ideas are explored.     

Schumpeter's Challenge to Economists: History,Theory, and Statistics as Key Competencies and Sociology as a Vision for the Future

Schumpeter wrote that a “scientific” economist is competent in three “techniques”: economic theory, economic history, and statistics. In addition, he mentions economic sociology. The current interpretation is that theory, history, and statistics refer to aspects of research that can emerge in any field of science. Their content and relations can be clarified with Mach's writings. Economic sociology is not a technique within economics, but a part of general sociology. The rationale of economic and general sociology becomes clear by considering Schumpeter's interpretations of Marx's ideas. Schumpeter's ultimate ambition may have been a grand theory following Marx's vision.     

The Anti-Benthamism of J. M. Keynes: Implications for The General Theory

A bstract Keynes severely criticized the "Benthamite tradition," the overvaluation of the "economic criterion" He found "the love of money" corrosive of community and esthetic values and an encouragement to reckless exploitation of places that should be in the public domain In "Art and the State," he proposes the rebuilding of large sections of modern cities to rekindle popular feelings of beauty and community values
One of the factors behind this philosophy was G E Moore's Principia Ethica (1903) It criticizes Bentham for committing "the naturalistic fallacy" of confusing means with ends and idealizes two "goods" in themselves, the pleasure of human relations and the enjoyment of beauty in nature and art These ideals Keynes saw undermined by the Benthamite tradition
Such criticism is the "moral-political paradigm" on which The General Theory is erected Minute calculation of advantages and disadvantages, on which classical economics is based, is rejected Behind consumption and investment functions are sociological and psychological factors, "animal spirits," and the like Calculation prevails in the stock and bond markets ( liquidity preference )–to everybody's sorrow The proposed slow elimination of institutions that make liquidity preference possible, and of the rentier , follow logically Econometrics , viewed as the tool of the overvaluation of the economic criterion, is also rejected. In many articles Keynes aimed at much more than revolutionizing political economy , he aimed at weaning England from Benthamite utilitarianism and raising the cultural values of the populace By 1938 he knew that he had failed.     

Three Kinds of Economists:

A bstract . The diversity of thought among American economistsis investigated using samples of the memberships of the American Economic Association, the Union for Radical Political Economists and the Association for Evolutionary Economics. Discriminant analysis reveals a complex web of theoretical and organizational integration and separatism involving theoretical orientation in economics, emulative economists, scholarly research focus, organizational membership, and political values. The modal radical economist espouses a radical political economic philosophy and pursues Marxist/radical scholarship in an academic setting. The modal neoclassical economist , radical in neither disciplinary nor personal political beliefs, is found, more often than the other types, in nonacademic administrative work. Marxist/radical and institutionalist scholarship are mutually exclusive. Other dimensions of the professional role, as well as a number of social and biographical background characteristics, do not differentiate between types of economists.     

A Socio-Dynamic Understanding of Markets

A bstract    Economic sociology furthers a healthy alternative to price-theory–oriented economics as it sets out to remedy the invisibility of the market within the latter. There is, however, no doubt that such a market-oriented sociology is still in its infancy, given among other issues its inability to shoulder market change. The void thus recognized opens up the potential for a market idea with both social and dynamic properties. There is good reason to believe that such an endeavor would benefit from the constructive blending of economic sociology and Austrian economics. This paper argues that such a "socio-Austrian" connection is in the position to enrich the socioeconomic discourse in general and its market conception in particular.     

Economic Sociology

A bstract . Economic sociology covers the gray area between the disciplines of economics and sociology brings scholars from both disciplines together to communicate over topics of interest. This communication provides debate that stimulates and strengthens social theory , which in turn, allows for better policy recommendations. A major area for concern in the development of economic sociology has been the presence of economic imperialism combined with economic bubris , the effects of which could suffocate economic sociology. These phenomena arc examined along with the trends over the past twenty years in the development of economic sociology and the relative impact that "economic sociologists" from both disciplines are having on their respective fields. Observing these trends will allow for an analysis of the developments in economic sociology and a assessment of where It is going in the future.     

Introduction

A bstract .   This symposium was first presented at a session entitled "Noneconomic Objectives in the History of Economic Thought" that was held at the Allied Social Science Association Meetings in January 2002.     

“一带一路”背景下通过品牌形象设计提升中国品牌价值——以扬州谢馥春为例

“一带一路”是“丝绸之路经济带”和“21世纪海上丝绸之路”的简称。其借用古代丝绸之路的历史符号,高举和平发展的旗帜,积极发展与沿线国家的经济合作伙伴关系,共同打造政治互信、经济融合、文化包容的利益共同体、命运共同体和责任共同体。因此,企业竞争的不仅是产品硬实力,还有品牌形象的软实力。中国品牌不断树立更完美的形象,但与国际品牌相比还存在差距。基于“一带一路”背景,论文以扬州谢馥春为例,梳理了品牌的内涵,并对品牌形象进行设计,打造出有特色的品牌,从而达到提升品牌价值的目的。     

Keynes On Markets

A bstract . The heart of modern economics is the study of "the market," eventually ensuing in the General Equilibrium model. J. M. Keynes ignored, this line of inquiry but from 1907, when he was at the India Office, to the 1940s, when he made proposals for the post-war reconstruction of the financial system , he often addressed himself to the functioning of markets. He is critical of many markets for promoting instability , and especially for embodying low values (greed, fears). It is suggested that Keynes' views on markets were shaped by his personal experiences as an investor; by his realistic, non-theoretical approach; by his anti-Benthamite values and by his sensitivity to the unemployment and "chaos" they often caused.