Professor Ha Joon Chang has become something of a hero to those who champion heterodox economic theory and who rail against the supposed intellectual hegemony of ‘neo-liberalism’. In a number of books such as Kicking Away the Ladder Chang sets out to overturn the alleged orthodoxies of mainstream economics by questioning the case for free trade as an appropriate development strategy in poorer countries and more widely making the case for a high regulation/big government agenda. These themes are vividly on display in Chang’s latest best seller 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism. Unfortunately, also on display in this book is Chang’s penchant for misrepresenting opponents, the use of straw man analyses and claims to theoretical innovation for what amounts to ‘re-inventing the wheel’. In several posts in the coming weeks I aim to highlight these aspects of Chang’s work in the hope that his readers (should they venture onto this blog) might reconsider his ‘guru’ status.
Read the rest of the article: What Ha Joon Chang Doesn’t Tell You about ‘Free Market Economics’ « Pileus.
Must admit I have never heard of him…..but the way the economy is right now, I could understand why some would subscribe to his thinking. Its a good job government intervened in the banking crisis, who knows where we would be now…..
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jul/19/city-bonuses-totalled-fourteen-billion