By Steven Rosefielde and Ralph W. Pfouts
Pages: 220
Pages: 220
The goal of Inclusive Economic Theory is to tie together various authoritative strands of contemporary economic theory into an easily comprehensible whole that illuminates the need for a broader approach to contemporary economic policy making undistorted by obsolete 18th century rationalist assumptions about utility, ethics, worthiness and traditional culture.
This is accomplished by elaborating the rationalist competitive ideal along the optimizing lines pioneered by Paul Samuelson (neoclassical economics); plumbing modifications necessitated by Herbert Simon's realist concepts of “bounded rationality” and “satisficing”; refined further by applying a pragmatist outlook to probe the consequences of relaxing Enlightenment teleological, ethical, spiritual and cultural taboos.
Inclusive Economic Theory will explain why competitive market economies guided by rational utility-seeking invariably are less productive, efficient, just and beneficent than most theorists concede, and will illuminate the full range of interventions needed to achieve better outcomes. We call this program in its entirety “Inclusive Economics”, including the integration of micro and macroeconomics.
Table of Contents of Inclusive Economic Theory
- Introduction
- Neoclassical Economics:
- Rational Utilitarianism
- Competitive Ideal
- Bounded Rationality
- Core Consumer Behavior Theory: Ideal and Realist
- Production and Costs
- Institutions
- Macroeconomics
- Governance
- Democracy
- Neo-realist Economics:
- When Reason Fails
- Why Reason Seldom Prevails
- Dangers
- Opportunities
- Inclusive Economics:
- Umbrella of Complementary Paradigms
- Truth
- Mathematical Appendices:
- Bergsonian Social Welfare Functions
- Idealist Neoclassical Consumer Utility Optimization
- Idealist Neoclassical Production: Multiproduct Firm
- Realist Profit and Revenue Seeking: Multi-firm Interaction Effects
- Realist Retail Satisficing
About Steven Rosefielde and Ralph W. Pfouts
Steven Rosefielde received an AM degree in Soviet Regional Studies (1967) and PhD in Economics from Harvard University (1972). He is Professor of Economics at the University of North Carolina, and has served simultaneously as Adjunct Professor at various universities including the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. He has taught widely across the globe in Russia, Japan, China, and Thailand, and has been a visiting research scholar at the Stockholm School of Economics, Bank of Finland, Trento University, Central Economics and Mathematics Institute (Moscow). Throughout his career he has striven to integrate the lessons learned in high level government service with advanced economic theory.
Ralph William Pfouts graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Kansas in 1942 before joining the navy. He received his MA in 1947 and PhD in economics from the University of North Carolina in 1952. He taught at the University of North Carolina from 1952 until his retirement in 1987, serving as Chairman of the Economics Department 1962–68. He was both Vice President and President of the Southern Economic Association (1961–62; 1965–66) as well as the Atlantic Economic Society (1973–76; 1977–78), which bestowed a Lifetime Achievement Award on him in 2008. He also held responsible positions in the American Economic Association, the American Statistical Association, and the Econometric Society.
