Global Financial Elite, Mainstream Economics and Non-Mainstream Economics

Basic schools of economic thought are generally grouped in two headings as mainstream (orthodox) economics and non-mainstream (heterodox) economics. The method of mainstream economics is the same one which Newtonian deterministic physics has. With Einstein’s relativity theory, the methods of mainstream economics and physics break up but mainstream economics keeps going on the method of Newtonian deterministic physics. Because of this weak connection of the mainstream economics with physics, mainstream economics sees itself only scientific school that represents economics among schools of economic thought and refuses other schools. With the help of financial elite, a term coined by Thomas Piketty, mainstream economics becomes only game in town especially in Wall Street in the USA and the City in the United Kingdom during global era. It is safe to state that there is a harmony between interests of financial elite and principles of mainstream economics. This cooperation has paved the way to oligopolies in different industries in Anglo-American economies as well as in the industry of economics education. The industry of economics education in Anglo-American world is under control of the financial elite which promotes mainstream economics as only true economics science. This approach has inevitably disfavored non-mainstream economics till 2008 Global Financial Crisis. The failure of mainstream economics in predicting, understanding and explaining the crisis has undermined its self-proclaimed supremacy and brought non-mainstream economics to fore such as Austrian and Post-Keynesian economics which explain the crisis best. This paper aims at analyzing the relations among Global financial elite, mainstream economics and non-mainstream economics in the context of 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Paper follows a descriptive methodology and collects data from published literature and internet. As a conclusion, the paper proposes diversity in economics education and refuses the hegemony of Global Financial Elite through mainstream economics over economics education.