Welcome friends!
If you follow my blog at all you’ll know one of my recurring themes is the shortcomings and manifold confusing bits of neoclassical welfare economics and more specifically the way that theory can be used to push a conservative economic agenda while avoiding talking about the real economic issues. A short while ago I mentioned an author I feel has expressed a critique of neoclassical economic theory that corresponds very closely to my own thoughts on the matter: Hansel Krankepantzen. Indeed, I couldn’t have said it better myself. As a public service I thought I’d include a little plug for his books here. And he now has a blog as well. Looks oddly similar to my own actually, but dedicated specifically to economic issues. I think they call that something, but I can’t remember what.
Mr. Krankepantzen’s latest and best work in my opinion is the very concise and accessible Bad Economics: The Hidden Normative Content of Neoclassical Welfare Economics and Its Popular Misinterpretations. The title says it all in typically straightforward and laconic style. It’s available in ebook format in the Amazon Kindle ebook store for a small fee. It’s hard to find by title in Amazon unless you remember to use quotes to search on the exact phrase, but it’s easy to find by searching for the name Hansel Krankepantzen. That work seems basically an improved version of his earlier work entitled What’s Wrong with Economics?: How Popular Economics Generates Ignorance, Confusion, and Conflict (2019), which is still available and also interesting. I believe there is also a podcast of that earlier work available free of charge through SoundCloud. You should check them out some day if you’re interested in that sort of thing.
A.L. Humanist
