Late Neoclassical Economics: The restoration of theoretical humanism in contemporary economic theory - New Political Economy 1st edition

In recent years, many economists have argued that a break has occurred with the long-dominant neoclassical tradition and declared the death of homo economicus. A new heterogeneity has emerged, drawing on game theory and broader assumptions of agent motivation, which centres on a different conception of human action. In this new paradigm, individuals with a wide range of motivations make economic choices within constraints set by others in addition to their own preferences and budget. But in this provocative and ground-breaking book, Madra argues for a very different interpretation: traditional neoclassical economics has not been replaced, instead it has entered its ?late? period ? homo economicus is dead, long live homo economicus.

Late Neoclassical Economics: The Restoration of Theoretical Humanism in Contemporary Economic Theory draws on the work of Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault and the Amherst School, to demonstrate that the concept of the human subject was always at the core of the neoclassical tradition. Instead of identifying the emergent heterogeneity as a break from neoclassicism, this book offers a careful genealogy of many of the new concepts and approaches - including evolutionary game theory, experimental economics and behavioural economics - and reads their elaboration as part of the restoration of the theoretical humanist core of the tradition. ?Late neoclassical economics? is therefore characterised as a collection of diverse approaches which have emerged in response to the drift towards structuralism. These arguments will resonate with anyone who is interested in the fate of the neoclassical tradition and the future of economic theory.