Social economics: What do economists refuse to recognize? (On the book by A. Witztum “The betrayal of liberal economics”)

Abstract

The review examines the main ideas of the book by the British economist Amos Witztum “The betrayal of liberal economics”. The main aspect of betrayal, which the author reveals, is manifested in the rejection of modern economic theory from the liberal basis of its classical predecessor, which assumed the social conditionality of individual actions in the economy. With the help of the achievements of anthropology and comparative neuroscience, in particular, relying on the hypothesis of the “social brain”, the author formulates a thesis about the human intrinsic sociality. Based on it, the author characterizes the behavior model focused on the significance of relationships — as opposed to market signals, as “expressive” rationality, and at the same time, the impossibility of reducing it to economic instrumental rationality — due to the opportunistic nature of the latter. Thus, the author exposes the unjustifiability of “faith” in market competition as an effective mechanism for allocating resources and an acceptable social guideline, recommending economists to fight for its containment instead of propaganda, using the classical conceptual framework developed by A. Smith and J. S. Mill.