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Thinking Like an Economist: The Neoliberal Politics of the Economics Textbook

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  • Peter-Wim Zuidhof

Abstract

This article surveys 10 introductory economics textbooks to examine whether and how economics contributed to the rise of neoliberalism. It defines neoliberalism as a political rationality characterized by market constructivism. In contrast with conventional liberal approaches that view limited government as legitimized by the failure of naturalist markets, neoliberalism constructs the market as norm and means of government. Economics textbooks overall have a liberal outlook, as exemplified by Samuelson's classic, however, with three liberal subgenres: the imperfect market view, the free market view, and an institutionalist view. While the introductory textbook cannot be construed as an instruction manual for neoliberalism, the article nevertheless identifies two important neoliberal moments: the discussion of market-based forms of government and the rise of a new genre of principles textbook that urges students to "think like an economist." The article concludes with novel insights on how economics may have contributed to the spread of neoliberalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter-Wim Zuidhof, 2014. "Thinking Like an Economist: The Neoliberal Politics of the Economics Textbook," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(2), pages 157-185, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocec:v:72:y:2014:i:2:p:157-185
    DOI: 10.1080/00346764.2013.872952
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    1. David C. Colander & Harry Landreth (ed.), 1996. "The Coming Of Keynesianism To America," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 451.
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrew Mearman & Sebastian Berger & Danielle Guizzo, 2016. "Curriculum reform in UK economics: a critique," Working Papers 20161611, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    2. Jane E. Ihrig & Scott A. Wolla, 2020. "Let's Close the Gap: Revising Teaching Materials to Reflect How the Federal Reserve Implements Monetary Policy," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2020-092, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    3. Curtis R. Price & Perry Burnett & Daria Sevastianova, 2022. "The attitudinal gender gap of an economics education," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 42(1), pages 233-243.
    4. Jamie Morgan, 2021. "Learning to Treat Our Natural World Realistically Through Unlearning Mainstream Economics? A Commentary on the Recent Work of Peter Söderbaum," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 10(1), pages 14-31, July.
    5. Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven & Surbhi Kesar, 2021. "Standing in the Way of Rigor? Economics’ Meeting with the Decolonizing Agenda," Working Papers 2110, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    6. Vanoutrive, Thomas & Cooper, Erin, 2020. "How just is transportation justice theory? The issues of paternalism and production: A rejoinder," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 387-390.
    7. Elsner, Wolfram, 2015. "Policy Implications of Economic Complexity and Complexity Economics," MPRA Paper 63252, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Fabio Boschetti & Elizabeth A. Fulton & Nicola J. Grigg, 2014. "Citizens’ Views of Australia’s Future to 2050," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-26, December.
    9. Vanoutrive, Thomas & Zijlstra, Toon, 2018. "Who has the right to travel during peak hours? On congestion pricing and ‘desirable’ travellers," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 98-107.
    10. Bäuerle, Lukas, 2019. "Das vermeintliche Wissen der ökonomischen Lehrbuchwissenschaft: Ein Essay," Working Paper Series Ök-46, Cusanus Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung, Institut für Ökonomie.
    11. Boschetti, Fabio & Walker, Iain & Price, Jennifer, 2016. "Modelling and attitudes towards the future," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 322(C), pages 71-81.
    12. Scott Wolla, 2018. "The Textbook Treatment of Net Exports: Will the Uninformed Reader Understand?," Journal of Economics Teaching, Journal of Economics Teaching, vol. 3(2), pages 232-253, December.
    13. Urban, Janina & Rommel, Florian, 2020. "German economics: Its current form and content," Working Paper Series 56, Cusanus Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung, Institut für Ökonomie.
    14. Bäuerle, Lukas, 2019. "The power of economic textbooks: A discourse analysis," Working Paper Series Ök-52, Cusanus Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung, Institut für Ökonomie.

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