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TERRA ECONOMICUS

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  • Conceptual maneuvers of post-neoliberal economic policy or Why “professors” are no longer needed by “entrepreneurs”

Conceptual maneuvers of post-neoliberal economic policy or Why “professors” are no longer needed by “entrepreneurs”


TERRA ECONOMICUS, Vol. 24, No 1

Citation: Tolkachev S.A. (2026). Conceptual maneuvers of post-neoliberal economic policy or Why “professors” are no longer needed by “entrepreneurs”. Terra Economicus 24(1), 6–21 (in Russian). DOI: 10.18522/2073-6606-2026-24-1-6-21

Acknowledgment: The article was supported by the state assignment of the Financial University. The author thanks the students of the Financial University A.A. Smirnov and A.O. Sudakova for their assistance in collecting materials for the article.

The article examines the reasons for the diminished role of contemporary Western economic theory, specifically the neoclassical mainstream, in providing expert, analytical and predictive support for the practice of economic policy. Over the past three presidential administrations in the United States, policymaking has increasingly been delegated to so-called “political entrepreneurs” rather than relying on academic scholars, or “professors”, as characterized by Paul Krugman. A notable example of the failure of “professors’” recommendations is the approval of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The article highlights the issue of academic monopolism within the mainstream economic community, particularly among American economists, as a contributing factor to the disconnection between theoretical research and real-world policy implementation. This monopolism is evidenced by the dominance of certain publications in leading academic journals and the concentration of Nobel Prizes within a narrow circle of scholars. I also address the ideological function of economic theory, arguing that any economic framework inevitably reflects the ideological perspectives, values, and interests of politicians. The neoclassical mainstream’s denial of this inherent ideological dimension is criticized as an anti-scientific stance. The theoretical underpinnings of Stephen Miran, who served as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Biden’s second administration, are contrasted with those of the majority of “professors”. The article suggests that Trump 2.0’s perceived radicalism and austerity and antiscience nature, as seen from the perspective of US academics, aligns with the economic interests and ideologies of an emerging elite in America, the “digital industrialists”. It is anticipated that the vision of these digitalists for the economic order will shape a new economic theory in the foreseeable future.

Keywords: economic orthodoxy; heterodoxy economics; economic policy; neoliberalism; Bidenomics; Trumponomics; world economic mode
JEL codes: В10; В13; В59


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Publisher: Southern Federal University
ISSN: 2073-6606