Debunking Economics: The Naked Emperor of the Social Sciences

Explains and debunks conventional neoclassical economic theory from first principles. Highlights the unsound foundations of major elements of the standard undergraduate education in economics, discussing problems with consumer demand theory, the theory of supply, the economic theory of the firm, and the theory of the labor market. Addresses important issues that are typically omitted or trivialized in an economics education, considering controversies over the theory of capital, issues of methodology, the validity of static analysis applied to a dynamic economy, the development of macroeconomics since John Maynard Keynes, and the efficient market hypothesis. Examines three different but consistent nonequilibrium theories of finance. Discusses how conventional economics has abused mathematics. Critiques Marxist economics. Surveys the main alternatives to neoclassical economics--Austrian economics, Post-Keynesian economics, Sraffian economics, complexity theory, and evolutionary theory. Keen is at the University of Western Sydney. Index.