~ 95%-O-E-I-CS-MTLD-WTUOJAM ~ 95 Per Cent – Of – Economics – Is – Common Sense – Made To Look Difficult – With The Use Of Jargons And Mathematics

~ ECNBASITSTPOCI ~ Economics Can Never Be A Science In The Sense That Physics Or Chemistry Is

~ NEHYCTECETU ~ No Economist Has Yet Claimed That Economics Can Explain The Universe

~ HGAETMB-IISTITAS ~ However Great An Economic Theory May Be – It Is Specific To Its Time And Space

~ TMW:CWTBWAGI ~ The Middle Way: Capitalism Works The Best With Appropriate Government Interventions

~ TM-I-IA-C-RT-S-O-IIBO-DD-RAR-T-PCT-DO-A-ESO-TBOTMHBRDART-DPD-MOLOOME-S/CL/CN-HBWFTM-ATST-MFUTHBMDT-PD ~ The Market – Itself – Is A – Constructed – Rather Than – Spontaneous – Order – It Is Based On – Deliberately Designed – Rules And Regulations – That – Prohibit Certain Things – Discourage Others – And – Encourage Still Others – The Boundaries Of The Market Have Been Repeatedly Drawn And Redrawn Through – Deliberate Political Decisions – Many Once-Legal Objects Of Market Exchange – Slaves / Child Labour / Certain Narcotics – Have Been Withdrawn From The Market – At The Same Time – Many Formerly Unmarketable Things Have Become Marketable Due To – Political Decisions

~ TIAHGITWMATSCACAWC-IT-‘SS’-E-WWHTKOD ~ There Is A Huge Gradation In The Ways Markets And The State Combine Across Countries And Within Countries – If The – “Slippery Slope” – Existed – We Wouldn’t Have These Kinds Of Diversity

~ ‘BR’-OTMCOOD-MINTLOIBOLCTPTIWH ~ “Bounded Rationality” – Often The Main Constraint On Our Decision-Making Is Not The Lack Of Information But Our Limited Capability To Process The Information We Have

~ HTMEB-PEDAEC-FOI ~ How To Make Economics Better – Preserving Intellectual Diversity And Encouraging Cross-Fertilization Of Ideas

~ TFI-WANTKSADATEIWANTBPVOSED-BEEPACATAOL-LSETTEHITA-O-MF-IPJOWTIPWTDA ~ The Fact Is – We All Need To Know Something About Diverse Approaches To Economics If We Are Not To Become Passive Victims Of Someone Else’s Decision – Behind Every Economic Policy And Corporate Action That Affects Our Lives – Lies Some Economic Theory That Either Has Inspired Those Actions – Or – More Frequently – Is Providing Justification Of What Those In Power Want To Do Anyway

~ OWWKTTADETWWBATTTPTTAWTTUT-‘TINA’-NWLT-DETSDTPBTBODEAPV-WWHTCTDEFWIRI-A-PA-ANA-‘S’-IWTICRAW ~ Only When We Know That There Are Different Economic Theories Will We Be Able To Tell Those In Power That They Are Wrong To Tell Us That – “There Is No Alternative” – Once We Learn That – Different Economic Theories Say Different Things Partly Because They’re Based On Different Ethical And Political Values – We Will Have The Confidence To Discuss Economics For What It Really Is – A – Political Argument – And Not A – “Science” – In Which There Is Clear Right And Wrong

~ MBIT-IV-WRSPFTDEFR-SAA-F-TWHPAM-IGSSBITTUSSAG-N-QTSQ

~ Many Believers In The – Individualist View – Would Rather Sacrifice Political Freedom To Defend Economic Freedom – Support And Approval – From – Those Who Have Power And Money – It Gets Such Support Because It Takes The Underling Social Structure – As Given – Not – Questioning The Status Quo

~ P-AP:A(PM)MPBPTPTOIRTTOTP(S) ~ Principle-Agent Problem: Agents (Professional Managers) May Pursue Business Practices That Promote Their Own Interests Rather Than Those Of Their Principals (Shareholders)

~ GOOSIPSCIMMWTPT ~ Government Ownership Of Shares In Private-Sector Companies Is Much More Widespread Than People Think

~ ISC-TU-AC-C-P-BTNCITAWO-IO-TASANPIAB ~ In Some Countries – Trade Unions – Are Considered – Counter-Productive – Blocking The Necessary Changes In Technologies And Work Organization – In Others – They Are Seen As Natural Partners In Any Business

~ OPPAPTTPITOF-TWHMALOMMDI-A-TTTCBRITTHE-LBEFTR-TP-OATOI-BTD-FRT-LWS-LROB-A-FWR ~ Once Poor People Are Persuaded That Their Poverty Is Their Own Fault – That Whoever Has Made A Lot Of Money Must Deserve It – And – That They Too Could Become Rich If They Tried Hard Enough – Life Becomes Easier For The Rich – The Poor – Often Against Their Own Interest – Begin To Demand – Fewer Redistribute Taxes – Less Welfare Spending – Less Regulation On Business – And – Fewer Worker Rights

~ Y-MPAS-SMOTT-B-TAAMB-P/CS/A/SOF(J)/H/CTAI/SOD/V/F/L/POB/IC-A-MEB

~ Yes – Most People Are Self-Seeking Much Of The Time – But – They Are Also Moved By – Patriotism / Class Solidarity / Altruism / Sense Of Fairness (Or Justice) / Honesty / Commitment To An Ideology / Sense Of Duty / Vicariousness / Friendship / Love / Pursuit Of Beauty / Idle Curiosity – And – Much Else Besides

~ WAGTROOTP-STS-IWDNFWTCTIOOEAOTE ~ We Are Going To Run Out Of The Planet – So To Speak – If We Do Not Find Ways To Control The Impacts Of Our Economic Activities On The Environment

~ TD-CB-S-AWA-C-O-EP ~ Technological Developments – Can Be – Solutions – As Well As – Causes – Of – Environmental Problems

~ TPTTNFIMBTCTBHSWBA ~ The Possibility That These New Financial Instruments Might Be Too Complicated To Be Handled Safely Was Brushed Away

~ IC-HMT-FS-M-IAU-II-HA-HTI-OT-FS ~ Increasing Complexity – Has Made The – Financial System – More – Inefficient And Unstable – Increasing Interconnectedness – Has Also – Heightened The Instability – Of The – Financial System

~ THBAVIITFOFC ~ There Has Been A Vast Increase In The Frequency Of Financial Crises

~ TROT-‘SVM’-M-ITEO-NF-H-DRTRAF-L-TI-I-N-FC ~ The Rise Of The – “Shareholder Value Maximization” – Model – In The Era Of – New Finance – Has – Dramatically Reduced The Resources Available For – Long-Term Investments – In – Non-Financial Corporations

~ N-FC-HBIDOTFAFTP ~ Non-Financial Companies – Have Become Increasingly Dependent On Their Financial Activities For Their Profits

~ F-NTBSREBIIS-P ~ Finance – Needs To Be Strictly Regulated Exactly Because It Is So – Powerful

~ CL-WCWIAJ-TMAPDAA-T-B-WFAYA-IMNFTPTTF ~ Child Labour – When Children Work In Adult Jobs – Their Mental And Physical Developments Are Arrested – Thus – By – Working From A Young Age – Individuals May Not Fulfill Their Potential To The Full

~ TWS-WITMDAOLFTMOP-EWTAOCA-‘NW’-DAT-IM-ED-PAMCA-C-RT-W-TRITWHAWAWI-ATDL-WSWWA ~ Taking Work Seriously – Work Is The Most Dominant Aspect Of Life For The Majority Of People – Even When They Are Officially Classified As – “Not Working” – Despite All This – In Most – Economic Discussions – People Are Mainly Conceptualized As – Consumers – Rather Than – Workers – The Reality Is That What Happens At Work Affects Workers Immeasurably – At The Deepest Level – Work Shapes Who We Are

~ F-E-OTMI-A-OA-PGITACC-ICTBSU-A-T-I-THCOU-EH/D/H/S-AHR ~ Full Employment – Once The Most Important – And – Often Achieved – Policy Goal In The Advanced Capitalist Countries – Is Considered To Be Something Unachievable – And – Thus – Irrelevant – The Human Costs Of Unemployment – Economic Hardship / Depression / Humiliation / Suicide – Are Hardly Recognized

~ W-TWMS-WCBAMBEAAMFS ~ Without – Taking Work More Seriously – We Cannot Build A More Balanced Economy And A More Fulfilled Society

~ PE:AM-‘H’-N ~ Political Economy: A More – “Honest” – Name

~ S-A-O-F-N-CTEOTTISDMBTTMOD-TONO-E-TSOPMOTE ~ Sometimes – An – Old – Forgotten – Name – Conveys The Essence Of The Thing It Is Describing Much Better Than The Modern One Does – The Old Name Of – Economics – The Study Of Political Management Of The Economy

~ TIAHSOOO-TAROTS-OWDF-EV-TPPOE-WTGSOSND-BM-BN ~ There Is A Huge Spectrum Of Opinion On – The Appropriate Role Of The State – Once We Depart From – Extreme Views – The Possible Permutations Of Exactly – What The Government Should Or Should Not Do – Become Mind-Bogglingly Numerous

~ TINS-‘S’-W-TDTBBMAP ~ There Isn’t A Single – “Scientific” – Way – To Draw The Boundary Between Market And Politics

~ EIAPA-YMATA-OQ-WB? ~ Economics Is A Political Argument – You Must Ask The Age-Old Question – Who Benefits?