Populism and extremism thrive on fear and hopelessness, inequality and poverty
Neoliberal Economics has dragged the World to the Abyss
'Neoliberal capitalism has contributed to the rise of fascism’- Nobel laureate economist, Joseph Stiglitz
The neoliberal populists have asset-stripped and poisoned our minds, but, believe me, we can take back control. This, in a nutshell, is the gist of this posting.
Illustration: Bill Bragg/The Guardian
Nota bene
Economics must become a vehicle of hope and the path to a shared prosperity and it should connect with peoples’ aspirations and dreams. We are running out of time. If our field does not change, if the revolution in thinking I am calling for does not happen, if we do not revisit the rich and fertile soil in which economics was born, that being moral philosophy amid the broader questions of human existence, meaning, purpose, and ecology, then, not only will we have retreated from the chance to play a constructive role in solving the multiple global crises, we will also inherit well deserved scorn and contempt. The opportunity is upon us. Let us seize it. Carpe Diem!
Populism as a Catalyst for Extremism and Exclusionary Nationalism
Photo credit:(Getty/David McNew)
Since around 50 years ago, when I was a student of economics, the world has changed immeasurably, but the teaching of economics has hardly changed. It is what it has been since many decades ago when it separated itself from ethics, morality, spirituality, philosophy and theology. Since then it has become a values-free pseudoscience of mumbo jumbo and number crunching, losing trust, reputation and self-worth.
If we want to save our world from destruction, if we want to live a better life, if we want to live in harmony with mother nature, and more, then, economics education and teaching must change, so that it can honestly guide us to the world that we are all yearning for.
The charade of Pinocchios masquerading as populists
Photo illustration by Ray Dougela Via eTruePolitics
The Story of an Economist who never sold his soul and never was a pinocchio
Championing a high moral compass in politics and economics
…And now, not forgetting our own little, tiny English Trump
‘If everyone knew foreigners like he knew foreigners … give ’em an inch and they take a mile. Nige being Nige. What a guy!’
Hate, hate again, hate better – for Farage, the country needs educating about foreigners
Yes, I agree, we all need a better and more informed education
‘We are a product of our history—even the history we don’t like to think about.’
Veritas vos liberabit (The truth will set you free)
Slavery and Colonisation, Plunder and Pillage, Stealing and Thieving, Inhumanity and Cruelty
N.B. [The Brattle Report calculated that Britain owed £18.6tn in reparations for its part in transatlantic slavery, taking into account criteria such as forgone earnings, loss of liberty and personal injury].
Photo:Wellcome Images
The Beginning of the Age of Barbarity
Neoliberalism destroys human potential and devastates values-led education
Citizens of the neoliberalised and populist- blinded world are struggling with a rollercoaster of conflicts, wars of destruction, poverty, inequality, inhumanity, genocides, climate crisis, techno-revolution, and the AI that is slowly, but surely, taking us all for a ride of not knowing who we are and what it means to be human. Yes, it is true: “Education is what makes us fully human” and yes, we all need a respite from all these calamities and economics education needs to become a different storyteller. Carpe diem!
Illustration by Jon Berkerly
Two pertinent Questions:
What has gone wrong with Economics that was once a Subject of Beauty, Wisdom and Elegance?
And how this falling house of cards may once again become good and relevant?
Time is Now to Reclaim Economics for the Good of Humanity: A Guide to a Relevant and Meaningful Economics Education and Teaching
To live a life of meaning and purpose must be a right and not an option and this must be enshrined in the new economics education and teaching
Economics and What it Means to be Human
Economics as Enabler and Economists as Empowerers of the Good Life and the Good Society
Lest we are foolish enough to forget:
“The point of studying economics is so as not to be fooled by economists.”- Joan Robinson (1903–1983)
As Robinson with these prophetic words has reminded us: ‘the task of the economist is to combat the idea that the only values that count are those that can be measured in terms of money.’
Photo: Via ReformMagazine
Can we forge a society built on shared values, one that respects difference? Can we build a state that cares, not purely in a macroeconomic context, but in a personal and individual one? Can we find space for kindness against a backdrop of complexity and cost, where we have allowed compassion to be viewed as a luxury for the charitable rich? Can we nudge people to behave altruistically? Can we build a view of society that is built not from the extremes, not from saints and sinners, but through the everyday kindness of action, by state, by organisation, by individual? Can greed be transformed into generosity, selfishness to selflessness, hatred to kindness,...,? Can we alter policies and practices to make the world a kinder place?
Economics and What it Means to Be Human
Calling all academic economists: What are you teaching your students?
Economics and Economists Engulfed By Crises: What Do We Tell the Students?
Economics as Enabler and Economists as Empowerers of the Good Life and the Good Society
My Economics and Business Educators’ Oath: My Promise to My Students
Photo credit:Thought Economics
A further pertinent question is: How economics education might change and regain its rightful place as a prominent and influential position among the social sciences, trustworthy and respected?
Here, I wish to suggest that, ‘Economics for the Good of Humanity’ refers to concepts like the ‘Economy for the Common Good’ that for the last few decades has been the light and the soul of my work, highlighting and prioritising human dignity, social justice, and ecological sustainability, amongst others, over pure profit maximisation, cost minimisation and the highest return to the shareholders, by championing the stakeholders needs and preferences, to improve the collective well-being of society by addressing issues like climate change, inequality, deprivation, poverty, injustice, the balance between markets and regulation, and suchlike.
In Search of Meaning and Purpose: The Poets' Guide to Economics
Calling all academic economists: What are you teaching your students?
The Theft of the Century by the Most 'Educated Thieves'- All with MBAs and PhDs!
Wisdom and the Well-Rounded Life: What Is a University?
Neoliberal Economics: A house of ill repute, Built on a shifting sand.
These are what I have learned from 45 years of teaching economics
Make Nature ‘Economics Teacher’ and Build a Better World
Make Economics ‘Kind’ and Build a Better World
Make Economics ‘A Thing of Beauty’ and Build a Better World
Make Economics 'People's Economics' and Build a Better Worl
Let us seize the day and stop the Pinocchios fooling us with their fakeries.
Let us see the world with different eyes. Let us reimagine what could be possible
