‘Credo’: economics is a belief system – and we are ruled by fundamentalists
Economics is much more than the study of money, writes Paul Mobbs. It is a belief system, and in its ‘mainstream’ incarnation, one that serves a very useful purpose – for those that reap the benefits. But as Brian Davey shows in his insightful new book, it’s letting the rest of us down: failing to deliver human wellbeing, while driving ecological calamity.
It is the gap between physical reality and ‘supernatural’ belief, such as orthodox economists’ rejection of ecological limits, which is both driving today’s ecological crisis and preventing politicians from implementing effective solutions.
Brian Davey’s new book, Credo: Economic Beliefs in a World in Crisis, is an analysis of economic theory as if it were a system of religious belief.
It’s a timely book. The simplistic, perhaps ‘supernatural’ assumptions which underpin key parts of economic theory demand far more attention. It’s a debate we’ve failed to have as a society.
However, while simple to state, this analysis also throws up a major problem for the ‘ecological view’ of the world. If economics is a belief system, how can we persuade the devotees of economics – in particular politicians – with rational arguments when their outlook is based upon a self-justifying ‘faith’ in materialism?
In and of itself money is not ‘evil’. Money simply allows us to exchange goods more easily. As outlined in the more formally religious terms of The Bible, it is the “love of money”which is the “root of all evil”.
The pursuit of material wealth inevitably brings sorrow as we neglect the innate, non-material value of the people and living things around us – a point upon which many of the world’s other great religions tend to agree.
What’s wrong with economics? The way people actually behave
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
