Whether we need the current economics and economic education? (On the book by V.M. Yefimov “Economic science in question”)
Grigoriy KHANIN
Doctor of Economics (DSc), Professor, The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), Siberian Institute of Management, Novosibirsk, Russia
Doctor of Economics (DSc), Professor, The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), Siberian Institute of Management, Novosibirsk, Russia
TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2016, Vol. 14 (no. 3),
The focus of my analysis is on the book by V. Yefimov “Economic Science in Question: Another Methodology, History and Research Practices”. Starting from the inability of the overwhelming majority of economist to predict the 2008–2009 world economic crisis, the author justifies a statement on the crisis of the modern economic science. In his opinion, the reason is that economic theory is increasingly breaking away from the reality and instead of its objective analysis and explanation tends to serve the ruling class. Even classical political economy was already biased. Yefimov believes that only institutionalism among the three directions of economic theory (classicism and neoclassicism, Marxism and institutionalism) is not politically motivated. Yet, even this direction is currently experiencing degradation, due to the harmful influence of modern neoinstitutionalism. The crisis of economic theory also affects higher economic education, which is also degrading. The author shows that the crisis of economic science and higher economic education has severe consequences for the entire society. The author proposes the avenues to invigorate economic science and higher education. Yefimov builds up his study mainly on the Western countries. In Russia the crisis of economic science is rooted in the Soviet period when economic science was put to serve the Communist party. The issues aggravated in the post-Soviet period, adopting the worst features of western economic science and higher education. This paper demonstrates that the modern economic science in Russia has lost a lot of achievement of Soviet economic science which has a very adverse impact upon its ability to analyze and forecast development of Russian economy, and elaborate sound economic policy.
Keywords: economic science; higher economic education; crisis of Western and Russian economic science; crisis of higher economic education; classical and neoclassical economics; Marxism; institutionalism; neoinstitutionalism
References:
- Khanin G.I. (2008a). Российское высшее образование и общество (part I). ECO, no. 8, pp. 75–92. (In Russian.)
- Khanin G.I. (2008b). The Russian higher education and society (part II). ECO, no. 9, pp. 121–132. (In Russian.)
- Khanin G.I. (2008c). Why there is a lack of good economists in Russia. Svobodnaya Mysl’, no. 10, pp. 103–116. (In Russian.)
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- Yefimov V.M. (2016). Economic science in question: another methodology, history and research practices. Moscow: KURS: INFRA-M Publ., 352 p. (http://znanium.com/bookread2.php?book=524412). (In Russian.)
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Publisher: Southern Federal University
Founder: Southern Federal University
ISSN: 2073-6606
Founder: Southern Federal University
ISSN: 2073-6606