Whose economy? Reframing the debate
Soundings - ISSN 1362-6620
Volume 2014 Number 57
Whose economy? Reframing the debate
Doreen Massey, Michael Rustin pages -
Abstract
The authors point to the narrowness of the questions considered in mainstream economic debate, which has been reduced to a monitoring of a few indicators such as growth, inflation or GDP, without any consideration of deeper questions such as our manufacturing capacity, our needs and the sustainability of our way of life. Such acts of framing are central to neoliberal hegemony: they seek to define what we discuss. The article analyses financialisation as being at the heart of the current economic settlement, and suggests ways of undermining its commonsense assumptions. It puts forward four key elements of an alternative. These include acknowledging the importance of the role of the state within the economy; challenging finance through more rigorous regulation; adopting measures to dampen the attraction of assets (as opposed to investment in production); and changing the aims of economic practice – our idea of what economics is for. Here they put forward two illustrative priorities for investment and activity – economic sustainability and hence the policies of the Green New Deal; and the promotion of an economy of care and human development.
To cite this article
Doreen Massey, Michael Rustin (2014) Whose economy? Reframing the debate, Soundings, 2014(57), -