Economy and the Future: A Crisis of Faith (Studies in Violence, Mimesis & Culture)

A Monster Stalks The Earth--a Sluggish, Craven, Dumb Beast That Takes Fright At The Slightest Noise And Starts At The Sight Of Its Own Shadow. This Monster Is The Market. The Shadow It Fears Is Cast By A Light That Comes From The Future: The Keynesian Crisis Of Expectations. It Is This Same Light That Causes The World's Leaders To Tremble Before The Beast. They Tremble, Jean-pierre Dupuy Says, Because They Have Lost Faith In The Future. What Dupuy Calls Economy Has Degenerated Today Into A Mad Spectacle Of Unrestrained Consumption And Speculation. But In Its Positive Form--a Truly Political Economy In Which Politics, Not Economics, Is Predominant--economy Creates Not Only A Sense Of Trust And Confidence But Also A Belief In The Open-endedness Of The Future Without Which Capitalism Cannot Function. In This Devastating And Counterintuitive Indictment Of The Hegemonic Pretensions Of Neoclassical Economic Theory, Dupuy Argues That The Immutable And Eternal Decision Of God Has Been Replaced With The Unpredictable And Capricious Judgment Of The Crowd. The Future Of Mankind Will Therefore Depend On Whether It Can See Through The Blindness Of Orthodox Economic Thinking. Economy And The Problem Of Evil -- Self-transcendence -- The Economics Of The End And The End Of Economics -- Critique Of Economic Reason -- The Way Out From Fatalism. Jean-pierre Dupuy ; Translated By M. B. Debevoise. Published In French As L'avenir De L'économie: Sortir De L'économystification In 2012. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. A monster stalks the earth-a sluggish, craven, dumb beast that takes fright at the slightest noise and starts at the sight of its own shadow. This monster is the market. The shadow it fears is cast by a light that comes from the future: the Keynesian crisis of expectations. It is this same light that causes the world's leaders to tremble before the beast. They tremble, Jean-Pierre Dupuy says, because they have lost faith in the future. What Dupuy calls Economy has degenerated today into a mad spectacle of unrestrained consumption and speculation. But in its positive form-a truly political economy in which politics, not economics, is predominant-Economy creates not only a sense of trust and confidence but also a belief in the open-endedness of the future without which capitalism cannot function. In this devastating and counterintuitive indictment of the hegemonic pretensions of neoclassical economic theory, Dupuy argues that the immutable and eternal decision of God has been replaced with the unpredictable and capricious judgment of the crowd. The future of mankind will therefore depend on whether it can see through the blindness of orthodox economic thinking.-- Publisher description Contents 8 Introduction. The Bewilderment of Politics 10 Chapter 1. Economy and the Problem of Evil 22 Chapter 2. Self-Transcendence 42 Chapter 3. The Economics of the End and the End of Economics 86 Chapter 4. Critique of Economic Reason 110 Conclusion. The Way Out from Fatalism 148 Appendix. Time, Paradox 152 Notes 168 Index 184