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vard.edu</a>&gt;<br>
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[Moderator&#39;s Note: Thanks again for all of the thought-provoking commen=
ts so far. Just a reminder that the open discussion will close at the end o=
f Monday <a href=3D"tel:%2811%2F30" value=3D"+661130">(11/30</a>), after wh=
ich Norgaard will have the opportunity to respond. -- Jonathan]<br>
<br>
</span>A few comments about Richard Norgaard=E2=80=99s analysis of the chur=
ch of economics. First, I agree with much, perhaps most, of his argument. I=
 would go further though in situating the ideology of economics in modernit=
y. Norgaard emphasizes individualism and self-interest as foundational assu=
mptions, and these are key. But I would add three more assumptions: an ideo=
logy of desire that assumes wants are unlimited, an ideology of knowledge t=
hat prioritizes rationality, and an ideology of community that assumes the =
nation state is the primary, if not the only, community. Taken together, th=
ese are not only the assumptions of mainstream economics, but also the assu=
mptions of modernity. Indeed, economics is the cutting edge of modernity, t=
he formalization of its unconscious cultural presuppositions. So the challe=
nge is larger than economics: it is one of redressing the extreme imbalance=
 of the ideology of modernity.<br>
<br>
Many people see the ideology of modernity as liberating. And so it is when =
the imbalance is in the other direction: when communities stifle individual=
s, when the poor receive meager rations and are taught that to want more is=
 a sin, when rationality is not allowed to challenge tradition, when the na=
tion is suppressed by empire. But modernity too suffocates when society is =
regarded as nothing more than a collection of individuals; when having beco=
mes being; when experience is denied, or, equivalently, is dismissed as sup=
erstition when it cannot be explained by the dominant rationality; when the=
 nation state undermines other communities.<br>
<br>
The problem with modernity is not individualism. Neither is it individual d=
esire, rationality, or the nation state. It is rather a state of imbalance =
in which these assumptions crowd out other ways of being and knowing.<br>
<br>
Yes, we need a new economics, and we need to situate this economics in a ne=
w set of cultural presuppositions, ones more suited to an age where sustain=
ability is the watchword. And we need as well to pay attention to the point=
 that John Ashton made in a recent post--&quot;This is a political struggle=
 as well as an intellectual one. There is no point in building a better the=
ory if we cannot at the same time weaken the hold of the prevailing one ove=
r the choices made on our behalf.&quot;<br>
<br>
The success of the Keynesian revolution in economics, limited as it was, wa=
s in no small part due to its symbiosis with the political revolution of so=
cial democracy in Europe and the New Deal in the United States. It is no co=
incidence that the counter revolution in economics that brought us the new =
classical economics took place at about the same time that center-left coal=
itions responsible for the New Deal and social democracy came to grief.<br>
<br>
The failure of radical economics to create a new paradigm in the late =E2=
=80=9860s and early =E2=80=9870s cannot be attributed to a single cause. Bu=
t the political failure of the New Left to build a new politics is certainl=
y one of the reasons.<br>
<br>
If a new economics is to thrive it will only be in conjunction with a new p=
olitics. Some hoped for that new politics in the person of Barack Obama=E2=
=80=94and were disappointed. Some looked to Occupy=E2=80=94and were disappo=
inted. Until we find the basis of a new politics, people like Richard Norga=
ard (I count myself among them) can plant seeds, but unless the soil and cl=
imate are favorable, the seeds will not flourish, and may not even germinat=
e.<br>
<br>
Stephen Marglin<br>
Harvard University<br>
<br>
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<br>
Saturday, November 28, 2015<br>
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