Thursday, February 23, 2006

Economics: 'What is, will not be'

Just had the most insane Economics seminar yesterday. It was just the dumb-strucked lesson I needed to hear about the world and its evolution of thought in development and economics. It's a dynamic and exciting place to be and the school makes me confident to believe that there is a future or "professionalization" in this discipline. For example, the World Bank announced in the 2006 World Development Report that equity was needed in order to enhance the power of efficiency and growth - this is the first statement of its kind to appear in such publications. These type of statements display a movement towards considerations of human capital and politics when addressing a once rigid look at economics at a solely competitive market standpoint. As well the recent Havard president resignation of Lawrence Summers show that even professionals in economics can make the most ridiculous claims on women in science and solutions to environment. Next week, the Centre for Civil Society in our department will be hosting a COLLOQUIUM ON ECONOMY SOCIETY & NATURE which will be hosting some renowned South African economists and development people. Should make for an exciting week!

2 comments:

Bill said...

Yeah digs I second that. I think many disciplines have shunned economic models because they assign values to everything. But economics can create efficiencies in all sorts of situations.

digtabulous said...

word, bill. values are unavoidable in economics - it's a dynamic subjective environment that makes the world go round and up and down. I agree that the market can be efficient but is that what people are REALLY looking for? the more and more I notice that it is this imperfect world of distortions and profit gain unweary to the naked eye.