Title from PDF title page (viewed July 28, 2008).

Setting the Scene -- The Creation of Social Order is Irreducibly a Moral Project -- The Relationship Between the Economic System and the Social Order -- A Brief Account of the Historical Origins of Economic Fundamentalism -- A Critique of the Conceptual Foundations of Economic Fundamentalism -- The Privileged Status of 'Science' -- What, Then, Can We Say of the Status of Economics? -- The Critique of Neoclassical Economics and its Influence on Policy Decisions -- The Doctrine of Freedom of Contract -- Some Normative Reflections.

"'The Cult of the Market: Economic Fundamentalism and its Discontents' disputes the practical value of the shallow, all-encompassing, dogmatic, economic fundamentalism espoused by policy elites in recent public policy debates, along with their gross simplifications and sacred rules. Economics cannot provide a convincing overarching theory of government action or of social action more generally. Furthermore, mainstream economics fails to get to grips with the economic system as it actually operates. It advocates a more overtly experimental, eclectic and pragmatic approach to policy development which takes more seriously the complex, interdependent, evolving nature of society and the economy. Importantly, it is an outlook that recognises the pervasive influence of asymmetries of wealth, power and information on bargaining power and prospects throughout society. The book advocates a major reform of the teaching of economics"--Provided by publisher

Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-316).

English.

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