Neoclassical economics rebranded political economy to hide power relations

Evidence

The rise of neoclassical economics at the beginning of the twentieth century portrayed economic theory as being objective. “Pure economics” emerged as the new label for what until then had been known as “political economy.” This astute rebranding reimagined an economy that was somehow beyond power relations. Economists became the gatekeepers of infallible models on par with those used by the hard sciences—like, say, Newtonian mechanics—and too sophisticated for most citizens to understand. This coincided with the rise of allegedly politically independent economic institutions such as central banks, which began removing key policy decisions from democratic scrutiny. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 31

Categorization

• XREF: Directly supports the reader’s stress-test of ‘democracy is anti-capitalism’: the removal of policy from democratic scrutiny via technocratic central banks is the pattern Mattei later traces through austerity. — connects to: The ‘pure economics’ rebrand removed democratic scrutiny from economic policy — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 31; A founding father of neoclassical economics was a committed fascist — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 199; Economic liberalism defines the political, collapsing the distinction between them — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s…, 100 (+1 more)