History of Economic Thought | How & How NOT to Do Economics with Robert Skidelsky

The main reason for studying the history of economic thought-says Robert Skidelsky in this ninth lecture in INET’s “How and How Not to Do Economics”-is to question the claim that economic knowledge is cumulative. Mainstream economics assumes that all useful economic knowledge from the past is incorporated in present theories. However, the substance and methods of economics have been interminably disputed ever since the start of the “science.”
INET sincerely thanks the Julis-Rabinowitz Family for their generous support, who named this series to honor the spirit of a great educator and economic thinker, Uwe Reinhardt.
For nearly 50 years, the late Uwe Reinhardt was a beloved economist and professor at Princeton University. Known best for helping to shape critical discourse around healthcare markets, his biting wit and intellect challenged students, colleagues, and policymakers alike to follow the data and to check all assumptions at the door.
INET also thanks Rethinking Economics for their voices and contributions.

[@matziorinis]

Thank Robert you for this refreshing and insightful critique of the way economics is practiced by economists. A valuable message to current and younger generations of economists who are not taught enough economic history and history of economic thought and who are highly specialized in one discipline intoxicated by mathematics and know little about the allied social disciplines of psychology, sociology and politics.

[@sehelelmakaremkuayed5459]

شكرا دكتور روبرت على هذه اللفتة المهمة و الواعية.. بالصدفة و قبل ان أشاهد هذا الفيديو الرائع كنت اتجادل مع زملائي من الفلكيين أننا بحاجة لاعادة دراسة النموذج البطلمي في علم الفلك ليس للعودة للوراء و إنما لزيادة استيعاب مفاهيم علم الفلك و تنمية روح الابتكار فقد كررت كلامك ذاته قبل ان اسمعه ان الطرق الرياضية و المعادلات المختزلة تمنع المحدثين من ايجاد حلول لمشاكل جديدة بل ظهرت لدينا مشاكل فلكية لم تكن موجودة سببها جهل المختصين باسلوب توضيح طبيعة المتغيرات الفلكية لاهل التخصصات الاخرى المشاركين في نفس المطالب.. على اي حال انا احاول احياء الاهتمام البحت بعلم الفلك القديم لذات الدواعي.. اجدادنا البسطاء كانوا اكثر علما بالفلك من بعض الاساتذة الجامعيين في زماننا

[@evamerritt9308]

Excellent!

[@Freskavena1]

Brilliant. I am going to buy your books señor. Well done.

[@2late4coffee]

Amazing

[@josedavidgarcesceballos7]

I always get the sensation that Feyerabend might give some extra lights to these discussions in economics.

[@user-eg2ke1ie3u]

thank you. very deep. i made notes

[@C3yl0]

I love this amazing discourse! Thank you

[@waynemcmillan5970]

Why is the History of Economic Thought no longer taught at Australian universities?

[@jonathanbailey1597]

Easy answer: power.

[@glencarter4138]

Because the dumber people are, the stronger the grip the powerful have on them.

[@emergingschoolofeconomics2065]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jF61naCYft-Xd5Y

[@abcrane]

on another note....how many theses on numerous topics within numerous fields, sub fields...from psychology to biology to economics to sociology...exist in the archives of academia...but how many PROBLEMS, SOCIAL EPIDEMICS, DISEASES....persist, get worse, go unaddressed, or maybe get bandaid fixes? the greatest problem that I personally see is the DISCONNECT between academic and common folks, and academia that is government funded and corporate sponsored....the "paradigm" shift that I envision (and write/publish on) is as follows: Whether operating within traditional academic institutions or independently, the responsibility of intellectuals is fourfold: *First, the intellectual must refuse to be bubbled-in to a narrow sphere of influence, merely exchanging ideas with colleagues while shutting out the rest of the world in dire need of their findings. **Secondly, the intellectual must remain unbiased and free of subservience to toxic military-industrial corporate interests whose only intent is to exploit knowledge in favor of profiteering. ***Third, intellectuals must engage in cross-disciplinary approaches to analyzing and understanding problems and epidemics facing humankind. This cross-analysis will yield a much broader interpretation of any given subject, and thus, provide a sturdier foundation for the innovation of solutions. ****Finally, intellectuals must work together with entrepreneurs, inventors, designers, and investors to manifest pragmatic, tangible solutions based on their findings that will help bring about a more sustainable, healthy world.

[@JonathanMarcy]

Honestly I'd say the point that a research article that challenges an existing model or theory of economics is difficult for reasons even prior to a departments fundings. At the college level most if not all courses ask a student to use the models that are tried and true to date before they are asked to present their own solution to an economic problem. If they are it's only after they've learned some level of new theory. They aren't learning by challenging the model from a place if ignorance, and contending with each individual facet of it as they go, they are instead learning from the findings of others who have done just that. The same can be said about many studied fields.

[@JonathanMarcy]

Of course given that objective thought has been largely discarded in the wake of capitalism perhaps this isn't the worst development in education.

[@P4DDYW4CK]

I think he just explained here how economics is a subject that, more often than not, selects for orthodoxy, that these orthodoxies intrinsically protect themselves through self-selection, and that our current economic orthodoxy is based on broad assumptions about people that are not entirely accurate. In other (harsher) words, economics today exists to justify the more sociopathic tendencies in people and it wards against outside threats by creating an impenetrable semi-ecclesiastical cult in (mostly American) academia, funded by the wealthiest in society, and dedicated to the worship of the inscrutable but omniscient Invisible Hand.

[@abcrane]

since I'm a solution-oriented thinker (see asterisks) I'll reply: on another note....how many theses on numerous topics within numerous fields, sub fields...from psychology to biology to economics to sociology...exist in the archives of academia...but how many PROBLEMS, SOCIAL EPIDEMICS, DISEASES....persist, get worse, go unaddressed, or maybe get bandaid fixes? the greatest problem that I personally see is the DISCONNECT between academic and common folks, and academia that is government funded and corporate sponsored....the "paradigm" shift that I envision (and write/publish on) is as follows: Whether operating within traditional academic institutions or independently, the responsibility of intellectuals is fourfold: *First, the intellectual must refuse to be bubbled-in to a narrow sphere of influence, merely exchanging ideas with colleagues while shutting out the rest of the world in dire need of their findings. **Secondly, the intellectual must remain unbiased and free of subservience to toxic military-industrial corporate interests whose only intent is to exploit knowledge in favor of profiteering. ***Third, intellectuals must engage in cross-disciplinary approaches to analyzing and understanding problems and epidemics facing humankind. This cross-analysis will yield a much broader interpretation of any given subject, and thus, provide a sturdier foundation for the innovation of solutions. ****Finally, intellectuals must work together with entrepreneurs, inventors, designers, and investors to manifest pragmatic, tangible solutions based on their findings that will help bring about a more sustainable, healthy world.

[@benjaminrupertodomingo1707]

@@abcrane entrepreneurs have profit motives... how do you reconcile this motive while working with them?

[@benjaminrupertodomingo1707]

@UCBOjIJNGaXmEsExhmgXZbpw interesting, I have tried to start a business modeling it to cooperative owned business structure, I just had difficulty motivating may co founders, since they did not invest money into it, but only their labor. Maybe because the business wasn't profiting enough to meet our basic needs. I believe its a failure on my part on marketing the business to meet proper profits. they also work part time with me. I'm interested in reading your work. ring me up when its ready

[@benjaminrupertodomingo1707]

@UCBOjIJNGaXmEsExhmgXZbpw Mondragon cooperative corportion in spain is worker owned right? how do they differ from your model?

[@benjaminrupertodomingo1707]

@UCBOjIJNGaXmEsExhmgXZbpw interesting, I have tried to start a business modeling it to cooperative owned business structure, I just had difficulty motivating may co founders, since they did not invest money into it, but only their labor. Maybe because the business wasn't profiting enough to meet our basic needs. I believe its a failure on my part on marketing the business to meet proper profits. they also work part time with me. I'm interested in reading your work. ring me up when its ready

[@programminggames247]

what he is saying the the ending and the critcisms economists frequently do to mainstream economics is that human beings do not behave like the models predict it, but one obvious reason for this failure is because human beings are social animals, you will never be a good biologist trying to understand the behaviour of a single lion or a single bee and ignoring the social structure, its naive to try to isolate human beings and analyse their individual behaviour or of any primate, you will never be a good economist if you try isolate humans appart from their social structure

[@lifelonglearner1863]

study psychology. thanks man for summary!

[@abhyudaychakraborty3818]

Exactly! what is a market transaction if not a social interaction that microeconomics mathemeticizes.

[@JonathanMarcy]

When it comes to individual wants that aren't based on needs this is true. However needs are surprisingly easy to predict.

[@JonathanMarcy]

Frankly it's an argument for why we should have a need based economic model, rather then a luxury one

[@LinhNguyen-dp2yq]

Really I think Skidelsky talked about problem of history of economic thoughts with a little bitterness.

[@GundamnWing]

The same thing is happening to theoretical physics in the form of string theory. A very sophisticated mathematical theory that cannot be validated by experiment. Mathematics can describe any number of abstract scenarios and not necessarily the real case. I think natural scientists have forgotten that.

[@JonathanMarcy]

Also, I certainly can prove the existence of God. Mind you by original definition.

[@JonathanMarcy]

The original meaning of God being a culmination of nature. An entity which is by definition all knowing all powerful, and all present, can only be fulfilled as such. No other single observable thing can fill that definition. It even complies with the meaning of a thing that created reality, and by it's laws controls it, while simultaneously providing it free will. Nature allows for all of these things. And it's literally everything possibly observable.

[@JonathanMarcy]

As training wheels leading into such an economy outlined in the Venus project, first you'd create something similar to a stock system, providing each and every resource its own coin, not unlike the Bitcoin concept. Each coin is then ascribed a value based on a standard of how many of that coin exist. The amount of coins would be based on a metric of how much of that resource exists. A conversion rate would then be tested. Course the big challenge would be in keeping track of exactly how much of that resource is known to be in a total inventory. Satellite system analytics could help to a degree, but as a principle keeping only known and proven metrics in a system, which should be optimized to make renewable any and every resource that can be, not limited to energy production.

[@JonathanMarcy]

Also I always thought it was weird that a system like Capitalism based on an infinite growth model had a problem with renewables for being an infinite resource.

[@JonathanMarcy]

You'd need a standard conversion 'coin' you could use an 'e' coin. This coin would be essentially the function: E=mc^2 It would keep track of the total photons comprising a raw material in a good, as well as the material expenditure of work and labor to produce the good or service.

[@JonathanMarcy]

This expenditure value would further be fine tuned through regulatory technology monitoring calories burned, and other health components, such as seen with apple watch and similar products

[@benjaminkaarst]

Any white kids go to school anymore?

[@lifelonglearner1863]

@Caetano Falcão dude, you just destroyed him. haha.