Economics As Discourse

Economics As Discourse
Author: Warren J. Samuels
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2013-04-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9401713774

1 Warren J. Samuels The study of economics as discourse requires a perspective that focuses on the relationships among knowledge (or truth), discourse (or lan guage), and meaning. Central to this task is the recognition that the con duct of economic analysis uses words and that words embody meanings that are applied to the object of study, but do not necessarily derive from that object although they define that object for us. Knowledge Economists are engaged in efforts to understand and explain the econ omy. In the pursuit of this knowledge they have attempted to make coherent the respect(s) in which belief is to be accepted as knowledge, or the sense(s) in which this knowledge has the quality of "truth. " The field of methodology in economics parallels the fields of epistemology and philosophy of science in the attempt to make sense of and to prescribe the terms on which efforts at knowledge may be accepted as "true," or the terms on which statements can be accepted as "knowledge. " The conduct of such methodological inquiry typically treats economics as a science 1 2 ECONOMICS AS DISCOURSE engaged in the pursuit of truth as an epistemological category - though there have almost always been economists who were skeptical of the status of economics as a science, and the pursuit of knowledge is only one of three putative function of economics, the other two being psychic balm and social control.

The Discourses of Capitalism

The Discourses of Capitalism
Author: Christian W. Chun
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2017-03-27
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1317614720

Since the global economic crisis of 2007–2008, ‘capitalism’ has been the topic of widespread general discussion in both mainstream and social media. In this book, Christian W. Chun examines the discourses of capitalism taken up by people in their responses to a street art installation created by Steve Lambert, entitled Capitalism Works for Me! In doing so, he considers several key questions, including: How do everyday people view and make sense of capitalism and its role in their work and personal lives? What are the discourses they use in their common-sense understandings of the economy to defend or reject capitalism as a system? Chun looks at how dominant discourses in social circulation operate to co-construct and support capitalism, and the accompanying counter-discourses that critique it. This is key reading for advanced students of discourse analysis, language and globalization/politics, media/communication studies, and related areas. A video lecture by the author can be accessed via the Routledge website (www.routledge.com/9781138807105) and the Routledge Language and Communication Portal (www.routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/languageandcommunication).

Strategies of Economic Order

Strategies of Economic Order
Author: Keith Tribe
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2007-04-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780521619431

This book provides an overview of 200 years of German economic thought from the eighteenth century to the Social Market.

Discourse Analysis and Austerity

Discourse Analysis and Austerity
Author: Kate Power
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2019-03-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1351802917

In the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008, governments around the developed world coordinated policy moves to stimulate economic activity and avert a depression. In subsequent years, however, cuts to public expenditure, or austerity, have become the dominant narrative in public debate on economic policy. This unique collaboration between economists and linguists examines manifestations of the discourses of austerity as these have played out in media, policy and academic settings across Europe and the Americas. Adopting a critical perspective, it seeks to elucidate the discursive and argumentation strategies used to consolidate austerity as the dominant economic policy narrative of the twenty-first century.

Metaphor in Economics and Specialised Discourse

Metaphor in Economics and Specialised Discourse
Author: Maurizio Gotti
Publisher: Peter Lang Gmbh, Internationaler Verlag Der Wissenschaften
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2021-09-30
Genre:
ISBN: 9783034340489

This book approaches metaphor in specialised discourses, covering various fields. The studies presented in the book adopt different research frameworks, ranging from pragmatics to conceptual metaphor theory, among others. The book is divided into three Sections that analyse major specialised discourses where metaphor is frequently found and the role that metaphor plays in these discourses. The first Section approaches the discourse of Business and Economics from different perspectives. The second Section addresses the use of metaphor in politics, diplomacy and law. Finally, Section three covers the use of metaphors in other specialised discourses such as marine, fashion, gender or health.

Postindustrial Possibilities

Postindustrial Possibilities
Author: Fred L. Block
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 238
Release: 1990-05-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0520910133

While it is often acknowledged that we live in a "postindustrial" age, our economic concepts have lagged far behind our postmodern sensibility. In this incisive new work, the well-known sociologist, Fred Block, sheds obsolete and shopworn economic analysis by presenting a bold, sweeping reconceptualization of the economy. Postindustrial Possibilities provides a fresh understanding of the dynamics of postindustrial change while offering a roadmap for future economic thinking. Block takes as his point of departure the tired concepts of neo-classical economics which, while still dominant, fall short as tools for comprehending contemporary economic forces. In Block's mind, the failure to revise the concepts of industrial economics means that the reality of today's economy is increasingly understood as "through a glass darkly." Intent on reinvigorating thinking in this area, Block masterfully critiques the central categories of neo-classical economics, such as the market, labor, and capital. Block argues that the neo-classical tradition has obscured the fact that capitalist prosperity has been built not on "free markets" but rather on systematic constraints on market freedom. He further suggests that measurements of capital have become increasingly problematic and that the concept obscures the critical sources of productivity within organizations. In his far-reaching analysis of the Gross National Product, Block shows that there is a growing divergence between the factors that determine people's well-being and trends in measured GNP. Postindustrial Possibilities sets forth a new intellectual paradigm that might be called "Qualitative Growth." One of its primary foci is a shift toward improved product quality and greater priority for various non-commodity satisfactions such as leisure, interesting work, economic security and a safe and clean environment. It also promotes a recognition that greater economic efficiency rests not on infusions of capital but on cooperative labor relations and on institutional reform. Wide-ranging, intellectually vibrant and lucid, Postindustrial Possibilities will engender controversy and debate. It is an enormous contribution that social scientists and policymakers will need to come to terms with.

Moral Discourse in the History of Economic Thought

Moral Discourse in the History of Economic Thought
Author: Laurent Dobuzinskis
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 323
Release: 2022-06-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000606457

Providing an account of the development of economic thought, this book explores the extent to which economic ideas are rooted in moral values. Adopting an approach rooted in ‘pragmatism’, the work explores key questions which have been considered by economists since the classical political economists. These include: what degree of priority ought to be granted to property rights among all individual liberties; whether uncertainties in economic life justify investing political authorities with the power to stabilize business cycles; whether it is better to trust entrepreneurial initiatives to resolve societal dilemmas or to centralize policy-making in the hands of a benevolent government. The chapters argue that economic thought has evolved from an emphasis on "sympathy" (as defined by Adam Smith) and that there has more recently been a rediscovery of the significance of sympathy reinvented as "fair reciprocity" in the wake of the emergence of behavioural economics and its connection to evolutionary psychology. This key book is of great interest to readers in the history of ideas, political and moral philosophy, and political economy.

A Discourse on Economic Development

A Discourse on Economic Development
Author: Kartik Roy
Publisher:
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2019
Genre: Economic development
ISBN: 9781536148428

A Discourse on Economic Development is based on two recently published books by Kartik Roy. Governance Institutions and Economic Development: Emerging China, India, East Asia presented an in-depth analysis of the reasons for successes and failures of these nations developmental efforts. Economic, Environmental and Political Governance in China, Japan, India, Brazil, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam brought acknowledged the urgency of the need for countries political leaders to follow the teachings of Kautilya, Confucius, Ibn Khaldun, Karl Marx and Mahatma Gandhi and to make serious efforts to implement those lessons in practice. It is worth noting here Mancur Olsons famous remarks that economic decisions are unlikely to be taken in the collective interest of individuals due to bargaining costs and the problem of free riders, unless they are members of small groups. Such a coalition of self-interest individuals is likely to try to redistribute income towards itself instead of working to raise efficiency and national income for the full benefit of the entire population and country. Hence, the authors feel that it is more likely that in all democracies rather than in autocracies, members of the ministry will form Olsons coalition of self-interest fulfilling persons who are semi-literate, have rarely been engaged in any income earning activity, and who are adept at taking recourse to dishonest means to fill up their pockets, as well as to attain glory, and who have no knowledge of the teachings of Kautilya, Confucius, Khaldun, Marx, Gandhi and other great men of the past. Likewise, they will have no interest in their implementation on practice. In this book, the authors have made an effort to create a synergy between the theory and practice in economic development.

The Economic Superorganism

The Economic Superorganism
Author: Carey W. King
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 474
Release: 2020-10-07
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3030502953

Energy drives the economy, economics informs policy, and policy affects social outcomes. Since the oil crises of the 1970s, pundits have debated the validity of this sequence, but most economists and politicians still ignore it. Thus, they delude the public about the underlying influence of energy costs and constraints on economic policies that address such pressing contemporary issues as income inequality, growth, debt, and climate change. To understand why, Carey King explores the scientific and rhetorical basis of the competing narratives both within and between energy technology and economics. Energy and economic discourse seems to mirror Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion: For every narrative there is an equal and opposite counter-narrative. The competing energy narratives pit "drill, baby, drill!" against renewable technologies such as wind and solar. Both claim to provide secure, reliable, clean, and affordable energy to support economic growth with the most benefit to society, but how? To answer this question, we need to understand the competing economic narratives, techno-optimism and techno-realism. Techno-optimism claims that innovation overcomes any physical resource constraints and enables the social outcomes and economic growth we desire. Techno-realism, in contrast, states that no matter what energy technologies we use, feedbacks from physical growth on a finite planet constrain economic growth and create an uneven distribution of social impacts. In The Economic Superorganism, you will discover stories, data, science, and philosophy to guide you through the arguments from competing narratives on energy, growth, and policy. You will be able to distinguish the technically possible from the socially viable, and understand how our future depends on this distinction.