All of your critiques of neo-classical economic theory are valid. Full stop. But the deepest problem with it is the entire idea that “free” market theoretics enables COMPLETE FREEDOM…which in the human universe is a dangerous delusion…because the little thing known as ethics cannot RATIONALLY be escaped. So you’re also correct that economic theory and economic actions must be rationally bounded.

“Free” market theoretics is a delusion and a misnomer for its actual reality which is alternately goosed and strangled unstable dominating monopolistic financial and monetary chaos…and the solution to that rather long adjective is to integrate the new monetary paradigm of Direct and Reciprocal Monetary Gifting into the Debt Only system with a 50% Discount/Rebate policy at retail sale instead of using the current ham handed methods utilized by neo-classically deluded central banks…and then rationally and ethically regulate the economy instead of allowing a suave or unabashed financial and economic oligarchy to dominate the general populace for another 6000 years or maybe another 50 years until climate change kills off 4-5 billion of us.

We must “go deep, go long” on APPLIED conceptual/paradigmatic analysis because anything other than an ACTUAL paradigm change gets gamed and the clock is ticking very loudly.

KM: The whole thing appears to be unravelling in a fast and chaotic fashion. I don’t think ‘we’ can do much but make plans to create something from the ashes (hopefully not nuclear ones). That’s why I’m rather focussed on the political than the economic at the moment.

Me: Political activism is probably more important than economic analysis. I can understand the cynicism and anxiety, but all the more reason to get behind a policy program that doubles everyone’s purchasing power, ends inflation by implementing beneficial price and asset deflation, ends the historical trend of private debt overwhelming domestic economies and transforms participating in the economy from frustration and anger into the greatest opportunity to self actualize gratitude for a gift of 50% of the price of everything? And then why not create a mass socio-economic and political movement to communicate and enact that program?

The keys are finding the new key/core APPLIED CONCEPT, i.e. the new paradigm, and then APPLYING/ACTING ON IT socially and politically. I’m sorry, as completely well analyzed and accurate as Steve’s critique of neo-classicalism is…it doesn’t rise to the applied conceptual/paradigmatic level.

The problem is the current MONOPOLY monetary paradigm of Debt ONLY and the multi-systemic solution is to strategically integrate the new paradigm of Direct and Reciprocal Monetary Gifting into the Debt Only system thus breaking up the monopoly character of the present paradigm and resolving the deepest problematic anomalies/realities that CONCEPT creates and enforces…in the economy and on 99% of the general populace.