A Primer on Heterodox Economics

Ingrid Rima's history of economic thought textbook, Development of Economic Analysis has introduced several generations of students to the philosophy behind the growth of economics as a discipline. The subject is notable for having spawned a number of competing schools of thought and although the free market orthodoxy of neoclassical economics has come to hold sway in recent times, there remain an array of critical undercurrents.

In this new introduction to competing economic paradigms, Rima charts the development of these varying schools of thought, their current status, and future prospects. There is little doubt that the events of the second decade of the twentieth century - financial meltdown, the credit crunch and the sub prime crisis - have provided fertile ground for less orthodox ways of thinking. Hence, a range of methodologies - from Austrian to Feminist; from Post Keynesian to Institutionalist - have begun to make their presence felt again - and there has been a considerable heating up of the debates.

Rima analyzes the current state of play and stresses the differences between the varying schools, as well as attempts to bring them together under the banner of pluralism.

Ingrid Rima is Professor of Economics at Temple University, Philadelphia, USA.