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The Heterodox Economics of “The Most Orthodox of Orthodox Economists”
Author(s) -
Kern William S.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1997.tb03363.x
Subject(s) - knight , criticism , orthodoxy , economics , imperfect , order (exchange) , ideal (ethics) , neoclassical economics , positive economics , philosophy , law , epistemology , political science , finance , theology , linguistics , physics , astronomy
A bstract The prevailing view of Frank Knight is that he was a defender of neoclassical economics and the free market system While this view has validity, it tends to obscure the presence of significant heterodox elements in his thought Knight was, in fact, one of the most perceptive critics of economic orthodoxy and the market system The question thus arises as to how Knight could combine advocacy and criticism of the market system Knight reconciled the two by separating questions of policy from the evaluation of ideals. Thus while his criticism of the market system proceeded on the basis of regarding it as ideal, in contrast his judgments on policy were based upon comparisons of the available alternatives. Knight found the alternatives to the imperfect market order even less appealing