Economic Ideology

An Economic Ideology is an ideology that systematically organizes normative economic beliefs about how economic systems should function and what economic goals society should pursue.

• AKA: Economic Belief System, Economic Worldview, Economic Philosophy, Economic Doctrine.
• Context:
  • It can typically prescribe Economic Policy through economic ideological principles about market regulation, wealth distribution, and resource allocation.
  • It can typically evaluate Economic Outcomes through economic ideological values regarding efficiency, equity, and prosperity.
  • It can typically distinguish itself from Economic Theory through its normative stance rather than merely explanatory approach.
  • It can typically influence Economic Methodology through economic ideological perspectives that shape analytical frameworks.
  • It can typically advocate for specific Economic Systems through economic ideological justifications of their desirability.
  • ...
  • It can often be held by an Economic Ideologue committed to its economic ideological tenets.
  • It can often be supported by an Economic Theory that provides economic ideological foundations.
  • It can often be studied by an Economics Researcher analyzing its economic ideological impact.
  • It can often compete with other Economic Ideologies in political discourse and policy debates.
  • It can often evolve through historical development and economic condition changes.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a State-Centered Economic Ideology to being a Market-Centered Economic Ideology, depending on its preferred coordination mechanism.
  • It can range from being an Egalitarian Economic Ideology to being a Hierarchical Economic Ideology, depending on its distributional values.
  • It can range from being a Traditional Economic Ideology to being a Progressive Economic Ideology, depending on its approach to change.
  • It can range from being a Pure Economic Ideology to being a Hybrid Economic Ideology, depending on its doctrinal flexibility.
  • ...
  • It can have Economic Values as economic ideological foundations for normative judgments.
  • It can have Economic Principles as economic ideological components for policy prescriptions.
  • It can have Economic Visions as economic ideological goals for societal arrangements.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Economic Ideology Traditions, such as:
    • Classical Economic Ideologies, such as:
      • Laissez-Faire Economic Ideology promoting market self-regulation.
      • Free Trade Economic Ideology advocating international exchange liberalization.
    • Keynesian Economics promoting demand management and government intervention.
    • Friedman Economics advocating monetarism and limited government interference.
  • Economic Ideology Systems, such as:
    • Capitalism emphasizing private ownership and market mechanisms.
    • Socialism promoting social ownership and planned production.
    • Economic Liberalism supporting free markets and individual liberty.
    • Marxism advocating class struggle and communist transformation.
  • Labor-Capital Relation Economic Ideologys, such as:
    • Owner-Centered Economic Ideologys, such as:
      • Shareholder Value Economic Ideology prioritizing investor return maximization.
      • Managerial Capitalism Ideology emphasizing executive control.
    • Worker-Centered Economic Ideologys, such as:
      • Labor Theory of Value Ideology asserting worker surplus appropriation.
      • Democratic Workplace Ideology advocating worker self-management.
    • Labor-Capital Balance Economic Ideologys, such as:
      • Stakeholder Capitalism Ideology balancing multiple interest groups.
      • Codetermination Economic Ideology advocating shared governance structures.
  • Behavioral Economic Ideologys, such as:
    • Rational Choice Economic Ideologys, such as:
      • Utility Maximization Ideology assuming rational self-interest.
      • Efficient Market Ideology assuming perfect information processing.
    • Psychological Economic Ideologys, such as:
      • Behavioral Economics Ideology incorporating cognitive biases and heuristics.
      • Nudge Theory Economic Ideology promoting choice architecture for welfare improvement.
    • Institutional Behavioral Economic Ideologys, such as:
      • Social Norm Economic Ideology emphasizing behavioral conventions.
      • Bounded Rationality Economic Ideology acknowledging cognitive limitations.
  • Contemporary Economic Ideology Variants, such as:
    • Neoliberal Economic Ideology promoting market deregulation and privatization.
    • Social Democratic Economic Ideology balancing market economy with welfare state.
    • Green Economic Ideology prioritizing environmental sustainability and ecological limits.
  • Cultural Economic Ideologys, such as:
    • Confucian Economic Ideology emphasizing social harmony and hierarchical relations.
    • Islamic Economic Ideology prohibiting interest charging and promoting profit-sharing.
    • Protestant Work Ethic Ideology valorizing industry and delayed gratification.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Political Ideology without specific economic components, which addresses governance systems rather than economic arrangements.
  • Philosophical Ideology concerned with abstract principles rather than economic organization.
  • Religious Ideology focused on spiritual beliefs rather than material resource allocation.
  • Economic Theory that is explanatory rather than prescriptive in its approach.
  • Business Strategy that concerns firm-level decisions rather than economic system design.
• See: Economic Theory, Normative Economics, Anarcho-Capitalism, Anarcho-Communism, Economic System, Positive Economics, Ideology, Political Economy.

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References

2014

• (Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/economic_ideology Retrieved:2014-10-16.
  • An economic ideology distinguishes itself from economic theory in being normative rather than just explanatory in its approach. It expresses a perspective on the way an economy should run and to what end, whereas the aim of economic theories is to create accurate explanatory models. However the two are closely interrelated as underlying economic ideology influences the methodology and theory employed in analysis.

    A good way of discerning whether an ideology can be classified an economic ideology is to query if it inherently takes a specific and detailed economic standpoint. For instance, Anarchism cannot be said to be an economic ideology as such, because it has amongst others Anarcho-capitalism on the one hand and Anarcho-communism on the other as subcategories thereof, which are in themselves opposing ideological standpoints.

    Furthermore, economic ideology is distinct from an economic system that it supports, such as a capitalist ideology, to the extent that explaining an economic system (positive economics) is distinct from advocating it (normative economics). The theory of economic ideology explains its occurrence, evolution, and relation to an economy

2014

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Economic_ideologies
  • Economic ideologies are here defined as moral positions - how economies should be structured, as compared to economic theories - systems of propositions concerning how economies work. Of course, the two are related. Certain theories support or preclude certain ideologies. For example, someone who believes in the Keynesian theory of economics is quite unlikely to subscribe to libertarian ideology.
• Roland Bénabou, 2008. "Ideology," Journal of the European Economic Association, 6(2-3), pp. 321-352.
• Kurt Klappholz, 1987. "Ideology," The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 2, p. 716.
• Joseph P. Kalt and Mark Zupan, 1984. "Capture and Ideology in the Economic Theory of Politics," American Economic Review, 74(3), p. 279-300.

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