|
( Steve Keen)
Dr Steve Keen is an Associate Professor in economics and finance at the University of Western Sydney. He criticizes both modern neoclassical economics and (some of) marxian economics as inconsistent, unscientific and empirically unsupported. The major influences on Keen's thinking about economics include Hyman Minsky, Piero Sraffa and Joseph Alois Schumpeter. His work has been published in the academic journal Physica A. Keen's full-range critique of neoclassical economics is contained in his book Debunking Economics. Keen collects and popularizes a wide variety of critiques of numerous aspects of neoclassical economic theory and argues that together they show that neoclassical assumptions are badly flawed. Keen's book closes his book with a survey of various schools of heterodox economics, concluding "None of these is at present strong enough or complete enough to declare itself a contender for the title of ‘the’ economic theory of the 21st century." However, he argues that neoclassical economics is a degenerative research program, not generating new knowledge but growing a belt of protective auxiliary hypotheses to shield its core beliefs from critique. Keen's own work (as opposed to his popularization) has focused on refuting the neoclassical theory of the firm, which argues that firms will set marginal revenue equal to marginal cost. Keen notes that empirical research finds real firms set marginal revenue well above marginal cost. He cites Eiteman & Guthrie (1952), finding 89% of firms do so, as well as more recent work by Alan Blinder. He argues (in a paper published in Physica A[1]) that this is because economic theory neglects the effect on price of increasing or reducing supply by a single item and finds that charging a markup is actually a more stable, profitable equilibrium. Other economists argue that Keen has badly misunderstood the economic theory involved.[2]
|
Steve Keen Subcategories
Steve Keen Articles
|
| 
