Types of Radicalism in American Economics
Radical economics has an activist orientation. It is part of the movement to establish an alternative economic order that differs from private enterprise capitalism in its mode of production, in the social and property relations embodied in the mode of production, in its value system, in its governance, and in the ideologies that seek to explain and justify its existence. One task of economics is to construct a blueprint or blueprints for an alternative future that differs from the present in its fundamental structure.1 One step toward that goal is a critique of the existing order and its ideology that is designed to show why an alternative society is needed. Another element is an analysis of the process by which society can move from the present to the alternative future, showing why and how the future can emerge out of the present. Underlying these three components of economics is the value system on which it is based, including assumptions and preconceptions about man and society, the nature of the good life, and the goals of human activity. This value system provides the underlying rationale for the alternative future. Seldom stated explicitly, the ethical and moral preconceptions of the position comprise one of its most important distinguishing features. A fully developed economics will comprise all of these elements put together in a mutually supporting pattern. It will have a clearly distinguishable value system that defines the outlines of its alternative future. Its critical analysis of the existing order states what is wrong with the present and how it will evolve into the future society. The analysis of strategy and tactics in the process of change will itself lead into an explanation of how the future society will function. The design of the alternative society will demonstrate how it can achieve the goals inherent in the value system. As we shall see in a moment, however, few economists have been able to achieve this full development of their ideas. Instead, there has been a tendency on the part of most radicals to emphasize one of the four functional elements of economics, leaving the other elements relatively undeveloped. Four approaches can be distinguished. The life-style rebels against the moral values of society to lead an alternative way of life based on radically different values. The utopian * Professor of economics, University of Michigan. 1 The word radical is derived from the Latin word for root, implying that economics seeks to change the basic roots of the economic order. This concept has nothing to do with the process of change-it is quite possible for a to emphasize either evolutionary or revolutionary change, seizure of power or use of parliamentary means, governance by authority or by consent. Radical economics is defined bv its goals and not by its strategy or tactics.
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