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The End Of Laissez-Faire, The End Of History, And The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions

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  • Kanbur, Ravi

Abstract

The subject of this essay is formed from three classic pieces of writing: The End of Laissez-Faire by John Maynard Keynes, The End of History? by Francis Fukuyama, and The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn. All three essays were concerned with the evolution of ideas, with Keynes and Fukuyama additionally arguing for the centrality of ideas and consciousness in determining material outcomes and government policy. I wish to argue that neither Kuhn’s nor Fukuyama’s “revolutionary” account fits the bill for the path of change in the ideas of political economy. Rather, despite the title of his essay, the gradual and multilayered process described in Keynes’s account of the emergence and then questioning of laissez-faire is a better guide to the likely path of the evolution of this key doctrine of political economy in the coming decades.

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  • Kanbur, Ravi, 2015. "The End Of Laissez-Faire, The End Of History, And The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions," Working Papers 250013, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:cudawp:250013
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.250013
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kanbur Ravi, 2001. "Economic Policy, Distribution and Poverty: The Nature of Disagreements," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 122-145, April.
    2. Kanbur, Ravi, 2009. "The Co-Evolution of the Washington Consensus and The Economic Development Discourse," Working Papers 48920, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    3. Mark Blaug, 1972. "Was There a Marginal Revolution?," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 269-280, Fall.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kanbur, Ravi, 2021. "Past, Present and Future of International Organizations, See Through the Lens of Bretton Woods and the World Bank," Working Papers 313755, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    2. Ravi Kanbur, 2018. "Gunnar Myrdal and Asian Drama in context," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-102, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Turvey, Calum G. & Ifft, Jennifer E. & Carduner, Amy, 2018. "The historical relationship between the U.S. Farm Credit System, Farm Service Agency and commercial bank lending," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274120, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Ravi Kanbur, 2018. "Gunnar Myrdal and Asian Drama in context," WIDER Working Paper Series 102, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Kanbur, Ravi, 2016. "W. Arthur Lewis and the Roots of Ghanaian Economic Policy," CEPR Discussion Papers 11720, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Kanbur, Ravi, 2020. "Meet the New Normal, Same as the Old Normal: The State-Market Balance and Economic Policy Debates after the Pandemic," Working Papers 309989, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    7. Kanbur, Ravi, 2016. "Capability, Opportunity, Outcome - - And Equality," Working Papers 250027, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.

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