B29 - History of Economic Thought since 1925: OtherReturn

Quo Vadis, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences? The so-called Nobel Prize in Economics is not one of the original Nobel Prizes according to the testament of A. B. Nobel. Although it has been the target of various critics since its inception in 1969, it has become the most prestigious economic award. The paper summarizes more than 50 years of the history of this award, including the focus of the laureates, and asks - sometimes provocative - questions about the perspectives of economic science in the 21^st century.

Already during the financial crisis from 2007 through 2009, a growing number of scholars, laymen or media outlets blamed economics as such, at least partially, for the turmoil and subsequent economic malaise. Therefore, the debate concerning future long-term development of economics - or, more precisely, prevailing economic theory - has been intensifying. The following text outlines four possible scenarios - synthetic, evolutionary, reactionary, and revolutionary - of such a development. Each scenario is connected with a methodologist of economics or a methodologist of science, who represent it, for it is right the domain of methodology or/and philosophy of science wherein it is necessary to look for an ideological background belonging to different research traditions in economics as well as for an understanding of determining stances and worldviews of the traditions' proponents.

In the following text we introduce those approaches to the methodology of economics that are relevant from the perspective of post-Keynesianism. After a partially historical outline of philosophical and methodological stances of John Maynard Keynes and Nicholas Kaldor we attempt to shed some light on a more recent methodological concept, critical realism. This approach is in one way or in other influenced by the two economists' ideas in the realm, as well as some other post-Keynesians. We argue that this, originally heterodox, concept has had an ambition not only to operate as an alternative to the methodology of mainstream, orthodox economics, but to substitute it and thus, proponents say, make economics as such more relevant.

During 1930s and 1940s Josef Macek developed monetary theory leading to monetary policy recommendations which are deeply influenced by macroeconomic theory of John Maynard Keynes. Macek became leading Czech left-wing keynesian. His theory of money was nominalist and similarly to J. M. Keynes and G. Cassel he elaborated the concept of managed fiat money. He critisized and disapproved the quantity theory of money. In his monetary theory and his monetary policy conclusions he was a forerunner of contemporary post-keynesian monetary theories. Money supply is in his monetary theory highely endogenous and he expressed certain doubts about effeciency of monetary policy measures as antirecessionary remedy.

The command economy that the Czech Republic inherited from the communist system was considered unreformable. It seems as if the social and economic transition of ex-communist countries is necessary for their full inclusion among democratic countries with highly developed market economic systems. No new central European tiger has emerged since Erhard"s reform in the post-war West Germany, since welfare-statism also destroyed a genuine economic transition in the Czech Republic. Influential interest groups were able to interrupt the transition process and to stop it halfway in many areas. Political pressures to bring the Czech Republic closer to European Union's standards led to the passing of laws and government measures that were incompatible with the highly-regarded transition strategy. The development of public law at the expense of private law enforcement (in accordance with EU policy) led to the further expansion of bazaar capitalism in the Czech Republic.