If you ask what is microeconomics the answer may come very quick. If you ask what is macro-economics, and the answers may come very quick too. But that knowledge is now obsolete as the pure economy model is no more, now that we live in a green market model.
So we should be writing new textbooks or correcting old textbooks and teaching the new generation of professionals about eco-microeconomics/ green microeconomics(e.g. the theory of the environmentally responsible firm or consumers); and about eco-macroeconomics/green macroeconomics(e.g. theories of environmentally responsible economies), but we are not doing that because of the current eco-economic knowledge gap, reality has changed faster than theory due to the sudden death of Adam Smith’s traditional market model after the 1987/Bruntland Commission critique, which has been now formalized in 2012 at RIO/UNCSD conference when it was formally substituted by the eco-economic market/green market model.
We all know that theory must match the practice so that the theory-practice consistency principle is respected always, if the practice changes suddenly because of a paradigm shift (e.g. Adam Smith’s economic man is suddenly dead and the green economic man now took his place) we should expect a theory gap….
I have more work in this line of thinking to be published in the near future to do my part in closing this knowledge gap.....
What are universities big and small all over the world doing about this? Can they see this? Is there an urgent need to close this eco-economic knowledge gap to make sure green economic thought is the core of university teaching leaving behind or updating old economic thoughts to meet the need of current green markets? What do you think?
Dear Lucio Munoz, I have been following your works since quite some time. I believe you are really shaking the tree of orthodox thinking about economy thinking. I'll like to draw your attention about the imperialism, colonialism and post colonialism factors and practices in the economy dynamics since the 14th century, to underline the flux of creation of goods and wealth that characteristic the relationship between the west and the south (the rest of the world), precisely the African continent and the Europe. Nowadays, China's soft economy model seem not to be so far from this colonial model.
Which consideration do you think these factor had been consider in the classical economic model and the Karl Marx Model ? What consideration need to be given to those factors in the design of a real sustainable and equitable economic model, the one where those factors are reduce to their very simple expressions, considering the fact that exploitation and domination cannot be self-sustain and long term model of production and distribution of the global wealth ?
Many thanks and congratulation for your overwhelming works.
You have brought in a very fundamental question to the global community. Your works on this front are admirable.
Smith also had a well-worked-out theory of moral behavior more than just an invisible hand, one that was not so neatly separated from his economic thought as we treat it today. There is a need to develop a full Smithian environmental ethic and how the overall framework of Smith’s moral theory can be applied to the complex environmental problems we face today. It may provide a basis for hope that a fuller exploration of Smith’s philosophy in the light of recent environmental ethics will provide a richer understanding of both Smith’s ethics and the environmental problems to which it is applied.
Dear Jean, thank you very much for your comments and for tollowing up my publications.
I am trying to folllow the advice of Thomas Khun(1970) the structure of scientific revolutions to minimize the blow back by step by step building the case for paradigm change in a way that the tree allows for fixing of the roots for the sake of the tree....here the tree is the economy....to save the economy they went green when everybody thought just recently that was not possible.....if all the pieces are there when the time comes when saving the green economy depends on internalizing social externalities...they will have no choice but going socially friendly....and that means a paradigm shift towards sustainability.....
Perhaps the drivers/planners/promoters of the green market have not yet seen the possibiity that the new capitalist countries may have an incentive sooner to internalize environmental externalities and shift towards sustainability faster than then and putting pressure on the green market to close its social sustainability gap soon after and shift towards sustainability too.....
I have work coming out very soon expanding this line of thoughts.....For example, in my next paper I am showing how when you expand a system(e.g. maximization goal) you also expand associated sustainability gaps; and when the stability of the accumation of sustainability gaps tends to full unsustainability, the systme collapses losing its oirinal structure and paradigm shift takes place keeping the dominant components of the system in the shift.....
Step by step Jean....first right now there is a need to create a house of cards fall down effect to have the space to update our thinking and close the eco-economic knowledge gap fast while giving a glimpse of how sustainabilty markets are structure so next time at least we know where we are going...That is my task in the coming months.....
Have a nice day and thank you for reading
Bikash, as you know, I have shown with the most respect possible why Adam Smith's ideas while creating so much wealth created the current social and environmental crisis, the reason why the bruntland commission/1987 called for fixing this.....One of the papers I am about to finish is focused specifically on this fixing: the fixing choices we had(To close the social sustainability gap only, to close the environmentat sustainabilty gap only, and to close both at the same time) and the fix chosen: to close the environmental sustainability gap only....and the implication of this in terms updated practically everything from Adam Smith to now....to create a strong green root....Had they chose to fix the social sustainability gap only we would be now in a socially friendly capitalist system with a worsening environmental sustainability gap....and if both gaps would have been closed at the same time we would be now in a sustainability market, a socially and enviromentally responsible economy....we would be creating now strong, but different roots after the fixing of past knowledge...
I am sharing here this paper as food for thoughts just in case you have not seen it yet...
Have a nice day Bikash!
Adam Smith and Karl Marx Under the Sustainability Eye: Pointing Out and Comparing the Sustainability Gaps Behind these Two Great Simplification Failures.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290607852_Adam_Smith_and_Karl_Marx_Under_the_Sustainability_Eye_Pointing_Out_and_Comparing_the_Sustainability_Gaps_Behind_these_Two_Great_Simplification_Failures
Article Adam Smith and Karl Marx Under the Sustainability Eye: Point...
Jean and Bikash, good day. I just shared a paper related to some sustaibility expectations ruling system expansion or contraction and like it to paraddigm death, merger or shift....The issues Jean brough to my attention such as imperialism, colonialism, cold wars, dominant-dominated interactions could be seen throught this framework....If you have time, take a look at it....it will bring some food for thoughts....
Wish you a nice day;
Paradigm Evolution and Sustainability Thinking: Using a Sustainability Inversegram to State Paradigm Death and Shift Expectations Under Win-Win and No Win-Win Situations.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291274083_Paradigm_Evolution_and_Sustainability_Thinking_Using_a_Sustainability_Inversegram_to_State_Paradigm_Death_and_Shift_Expectations_Under_Win-Win_and_No_Win-Win_Situations
Very interesting discussion. Adam Smith's texts are out-of-date but still present in contemporary economic debate.
I suggest italian economist Antonio Genovesi as alternative economist. Genovesi was contemporary with Adam Smith. He founded the "civic economy".
I also suggest the recent Pope Francis encyclical "Laudato si'": The keyword is INTEGRAL ECOLOGY. We can't say "ecology" , without considering economic, social and political aspects (and the colonial model, as Jean Claude said).
I've just downloaded the above article of Lucio Munoz and started reading.
Thank you.
Dear Marco, thank you for your comments...When there is a paradigm shift you leave the knowledge based supporting the old paradigm behind creating a knowledge fall down effect that is captured by the paradigm shift knowledge gap....There was a paradigm shift in 1991 from the red socialist model of Karl Marx to the socio-economic or socially friendly capitalism model adopted by China and former socialist countries.....they has a socio-economy knowledge gap.....
There was formally a paradigm shift from the traditional market of Adam Smith to the green market in 2012 RIO/UNCSD and they are facing an eco-economy or green market knowledge gap.....
I am about to finish four papers to hightlight these issues:
a) one highlighted the consequences of paradigm shift in China and former soviet republish and the nature and steepness of their paradigm shift knowledge gap and highlighting ways to catch up and minimize the gap faster;
b) one stressing the unintended consequences of paradigm shift in former capitalist countres where the knowledge based of the traditional market was suddenly left behind when moving to green markets and highlight key players like the Arrow Impossibility Theorem left behind when Adam Smith's world died and shifted towards the green economy;
c) one pondering what would had happened to Adam Smith's world if Karl Marx would have proposed a shift not to red socialism, but socially friendly capitalism in his time and the impact this could have had in the playing of the old cold war...who whould have won then?
d) one pondering what would have happened to Karl Marx's world had Adam Smith's proposed from the beginning sustainability markets, socially and environmentally friendly economic markets, could Karl Marx been able to made a case against this type of capitalism?
I will share them in the coming months.
Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment
You may find the following article interesting:
Understanding the Death and Paradigm Shift of Adam Smith’s model: Was Going Green the Only Option? If not, Is This Option the Most Sustainable One?
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291523109_Understanding_the_Death_and_Paradigm_Shift_of_Adam_Smith%27s_model_Was_Going_Green_the_Only_Option_If_not_Is_This_Option_the_Most_Sustainable_One
Article Understanding the Death and Paradigm Shift of Adam Smith’s m...
Pr., your demonstration in "Understanding the Death and Paradigm Shift of Adam Smith’s model: Was Going Green the Only Option? If not, Is This Option the
Most Sustainable One?" (Muñoz, Lucio, 2016) sound interesting. It can be scaled to address global inequity and governance contradictions that still affect the green economic man and Eco-economic markets model that you gave a good description. You are in a very good move to path the way to fundamental academic thinking very needed to support sustainable development policies and practices. Will it be necessary to extend the theory gap to also cover the connections between the Eco-economic markets/green economic man and the digital market/digital man of our today world ? This is because I'm implementing a project on "African Green Marketplace, Fair-trade, entrepreneurship & Eco-investment platform" : ECO2AFRICA is African Social Green Business virtual Community platform dedicated to green production, fair-trade and consumption. The platform is aiming to offer a framework, support and incentives to supply and demand of organic and environmental friendly products, services, venture and eco-investment opportunities to small business and enterprises committed to Corporate and Organization Citizenship (COC). ECO2AFRICA is a bottom up initiative and an effort to endorse and align grassroots community to green economy and ecological economy patterns of production, supply and consumption, more suitable to the mitigation and adaptation to climate change, valuation and conservation of the biodiversity, that can the SDGs to achieve smart transformation of the African Landscapes. As you can guess, your theoretical work is a very interesting background Knowledge support to such a project.
Dear Jean, I have broken up the sustainability issues in very smal pieces and each of my publication has a piece that when put together will make more sense.... I realised from the beginning if I gave an elephan at once researchers, especially the mainstream thinkers would ignore it so I have been publishing little by littel, original piece by oritinal piece, each focused on specific issues, putting all the pieces together will later make sense and facilitate first paradigm knowledge gap catch up, and one day, paradigm shift....My next focus will be on showing, just in case the mainstream can not still see it, both in old capitalist countries and new commers among capitalist countries that the knowledge base of the orignal paradigm has been left behind and need either new axioms or fixed old axioms.....
I have already cover in the publications I have so far each of the issues you mentioned in your comment...green production, fair trade, green consumption, greening supply and demand throught right market prices....and so on....each article showing that since the traditional market and now the green market are distorted markets by designed...they old need corrections in price structure, in choice structure, in paradigm structure and the the way their respective economic man is expected to behave.... Now I am focusing my atention on the house of cards fall down effect, Adam Smith's was wrong given the partial paradigm shift to the green market and therefore all the theories and methods based on Adam Smith's axion are left behind too and need correction....
When you have time read the following as it will help you focus your organization from the beginning in the rightr market path:
Utilitarianism, Raw Liberalism, Moral Liberalism, and True Sustainability: Basic Paradigm Foundations, Changing Assumptions, and the Evolution of Development Paradigms
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281277111_Utilitarianism_Raw_Liberalism_Moral_Liberalism_and_True_Sustainability_Basic_Paradigm_Foundations_Changing_Assumptions_and_the_Evolution_of_Development_Paradigms
Complex and Man-made Markets: Are We Currently Approaching Sustainability in a Backward and More Chaotic Way in Terms of Economic Thinking?
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281277199_Complex_and_Man-made_Markets_Are_We_Currently_Approaching_Sustainability_in_a_Backward_and_More_Chaotic_Way_in_Terms_of_Economic_Thinking
From Traditional Sweatshops to Green Sweatshops: Is This a More Socially Friendly Strategy?
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281277722_From_Traditional_Sweatshops_to_Green_Sweatshops_Is_This_a_More_Socially_Friendly_Strategy
The Past Versus the Present in Development Thinking: Pointing Out the Structure of the Old Agricultural Development Model After Internalizing Environmental Externalities.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281244857_The_Past_Versus_the_Present_in_Development_Thinking_Pointing_Out_the_Structure_of_the_Old_Agricultural_Development_Model_After_Internalizing_Environmental_Externalities
Article Utilitarianism, Raw Liberalism, Moral Liberalism, and True S...
Article Complex and Man-made Markets: Are We Currently Approaching S...
Article From Traditional Sweatshops to Green Sweatshops: Is This a M...
Article The Past Versus the Present in Development Thinking: Pointin...
Jean about distorted markets and future green agricultural sustainability markets
What If Markets Have Always Been Distorted? Would It Then Be a Good Fix to Add Fair Trade Margins to Correct Distorted Agricultural Market Prices?.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281244562_What_If_Markets_Have_Always_Been_Distorted_Would_It_Then_Be_a_Good_Fix_to_Add_Fair_Trade_Margins_to_Correct_Distorted_Agricultural_Market_Prices
The Present Versus the Future in Development Thinking: Towards Agricultural Sustainability
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281244871_The_Present_Versus_the_Future_in_Development_Thinking_Towards_Agricultural_Sustainability
Article What If Markets Have Always Been Distorted? Would It Then Be...
Article The Present Versus the Future in Development Thinking: Towar...
Thank Pr. for sharing these publications with us. I'll like to capture the essence (shifting ideas) in a pager to be distributed in the first Eco2africa platform Newsletter. The Adam Smith and/or Karl Marx depth story is little temptative . Intellectuals, policy makers and practitioners dealing with the new sustainable development parading in their daily life practices are concerned in all network. Please let me know if you are interested and also willing to share some essence speech in the letter. Regards !
Thank Pr. for sharing these publications with us. I'll like to capture the essence (shifting ideas) in a pager to be distributed in the first Eco2africa platform Newsletter. The Adam Smith and/or Karl Marx depth story is little temptative . Intellectuals, policy makers and practitioners dealing with the new sustainable development parading in their daily life practices are concerned in all network. Please let me know if you are interested and also willing to share some essence speech in the letter. Regards !
Thank Pr. for sharing these publications with us. I'll like to capture the essence (shifting ideas) in a pager to be distributed in the first Eco2africa platform Newsletter. The Adam Smith and/or Karl Marx depth story is little temptative . Intellectuals, policy makers and practitioners dealing with the new sustainable development parading in their daily life practices are concerned in all network. Please let me know if you are interested and also willing to share some essence speech in the letter. Regards !
Dear Jean, glad to hear about your project ECO2AFRICA. You are welcome to summarize some of those stories and use them to raise awareness among those related to your network as a way to promote prosperity in ways that are environmentally friendly, and best, socially friendly too. Your readers may find them interesting and be encouraged to read more to satisfy their curiosity.
I will keep sharing my ideas as food for thoughts here...
Have a nice day and good luck with your project.
It is not the death of Adam Smith's model as it is the death of where he placed the emphasis in economics. Which is the the study of the origin of the wealth of nations. Such topics as productivity, efficiency, specialization and economic order will always occupy the minds of economists. The difference or the needed shift in paradigm will have to redefine productivity, efficiency, specialization and economic order, among the many other economic constructs, since the scarcity we are concerned with is not as much about natural endowments such as metals, or production of consumables, as it is about the essentials for living:such as air, water, health etc. We have abstracted away from this in the progression of knowledge, when ultimately the origins of wealth lies in human welfare. Developments at the frontier of behavioral economics and neuroeconomics seem to point increasingly to this. The blackbox is not wealth at the global level, but wealth at the human individual level.
a) Why is the individual hindered from producing wealth?
b) Why is the nation being hampered in its ability to produce sustained wealth?
If we start with b), we end up with a seeming dead end road, where conventional economics has demonstrated its weaknesses.
If we start with a), we may still be tempted to follow the same rut and vein of thinking as the status quo, but there is nonetheless a nagging hint to the misplaced priorities in our mechanism and market design.
Dear Shian-Loong, thank you for your comment.
I see you undertand well the meaning of the metaphor "the deat of Adam Smith's model" as indicated whey you say he that the knowledge base needs to be updated to fit the new green market paradigm, which has not happened yet....
When a pardigm shift happens, in this case the shfit from Adam Smith's traditional market model to the green market model then original paradigm/market strructure/knowledge base/prefernce strucrture no longer works in the new paradigm and if they are to be used they need to be updated to fit the new reality, it has not happened yet.....The new paradigm needs either brandnew ideas or updated old ideas....
For example, you have a model T = abC and a reality R = abC
Then the theory-practice consitency principle can be stated as follows as the theory must match the practice:
T.R = (abC)(abC) = abC
....and there is theory-practice consitency as you can see
Now assume that the reality changes to R1 = aBC
then the theory-practice consitency principle in this case would be as follows:
T.R1 = (abC)(aBC) = (aa)(bB)(CC) = a(bB)C
....and the theory-practice consistency principle whould be violated if T is not updated to close the (bB) knowledge gap and T as it is can not longer be used.
Now if T is updated to T1 = aBC, then the theory-pracrice consitency principle is restored:
T1.R1 = (aBC)(aBC) = aBC
Think of the Knowlege gap in old capitalist countries as one of the unintended consequences of paradigm shift from the traditional markets of Adam Smith to eco-economic or green markets.....
Notice that new capitalist countries like China and the former soviet bloc countries are facing a knowlege gap too resulting from the paradigm shift in 1991 from red asocialism(K = Abc) to socially friendly capitlalism(SEM = ABc)......
You may find the ideas in the following articles interesting as they support the ideas above and you can use them as food for thoughts:
The Unintended Consequences of Paradigm Death and Shift: Was the Arrow Impossibility Theorem Left Behind?
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292361643_The_Unintended_Consequences_of_Paradigm_Death_and_Shift_Was_the_Arrow_Impossibility_Theorem_Left_Behind
Did Adam Smith Missed the Chance to State the Goal and Structure of Sustainability Markets in His Time? If Yes, Which Could Be Some of the Possible Reasons Behind That?
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286625136_Did_Adam_Smith_Missed_the_Chance_to_State_the_Goal_and_Structure_of_Sustainability_Markets_in_His_Time_If_Yes_Which_Could_Be_Some_of_the_Possible_Reasons_Behind_That
Adam Smith and Karl Marx Under the Sustainability Eye: Pointing Out and Comparing the Sustainability Gaps Behind these Two Great Simplification Failures.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290607852_Adam_Smith_and_Karl_Marx_Under_the_Sustainability_Eye_Pointing_Out_and_Comparing_the_Sustainability_Gaps_Behind_these_Two_Great_Simplification_Failures
Understanding the Death and Paradigm Shift of Adam Smith’s model: Was Going Green the Only Option? If not, Is This Option the Most Sustainable One?
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291523109_Understanding_the_Death_and_Paradigm_Shift_of_Adam_Smith%27s_model_Was_Going_Green_the_Only_Option_If_not_Is_This_Option_the_Most_Sustainable_One
Paradigm Evolution and Sustainability Thinking: Using a Sustainability Inversegram to State Paradigm Death and Shift Expectations Under Win-Win and No Win-Win Situations.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291274083_Paradigm_Evolution_and_Sustainability_Thinking_Using_a_Sustainability_Inversegram_to_State_Paradigm_Death_and_Shift_Expectations_Under_Win-Win_and_No_Win-Win_Situations
Article The Unintended Consequences of Paradigm Death and Shift: Was...
Article Did Adam Smith Miss the Chance to State the Goal and Structu...
Article Adam Smith and Karl Marx Under the Sustainability Eye: Point...
Article Understanding the Death and Paradigm Shift of Adam Smith’s m...
Dear friends, I am sharing my most recent publications as food for thoughts:
Adam Smith and Karl Marx Under the Sustainability Eye: Pointing Out and Comparing the Sustainability Gaps Behind these Two Great Simplification Failures
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299885202_Adam_Smith_and_Karl_Marx_Under_the_Sustainability_Eye_Pointing_Out_and_Comparing_the_Sustainability_Gaps_Behind_these_Two_Great_Simplification_Failures
Understanding the Death and Paradigm Shift of Adam Smith’s model: Was Going Green the Only Option? If not, Is This Option the Most Sustainable One?
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299882613_Understanding_the_Death_and_Paradigm_Shift_of_Adam_Smith%27s_model_Was_Going_Green_the_Only_Option_If_not_Is_This_Option_the_Most_Sustainable_One
The Unintended Consequences of Paradigm Death and Shift: Was the Arrow Impossibility Theorem Left Behind?
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299879934_The_Unintended_Consequences_of_Paradigm_Death_and_Shift_Was_the_Arrow_Impossibility_Theorem_Left_Behind
Paradigm Evolution and Sustainability Thinking: Using a Sustainability Inversegram to State Paradigm Death and Shift Expectations under Win-Win and No Win-Win Situations
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298353982_Paradigm_Evolution_and_Sustainability_Thinking_Using_a_Sustainability_Inversegram_to_State_Paradigm_Death_and_Shift_Expectations_under_Win-Win_and_No_Win-Win_Situations
Article Adam Smith and Karl Marx Under the Sustainability Eye: Point...
Article Understanding the Death and Paradigm Shift of Adam Smith’s m...
Article The Unintended Consequences of Paradigm Death and Shift: Was...
Data Paradigm Evolution and Sustainability Thinking: Using a Sust...
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