040044 UK The End of Laissez-Fair. Marx, Schumpeter, and Keynes (2021W)

Aims: the aim of this course is to introduce students to the economic theories and ideas as developed by Marx, Schumpeter, and Keynes as well as to certain epistemological and methodological problems such as the rational choice between economic theories, different kind of explanations and different concepts such as prophecies, scientific predictions, and trends. Content: Marx, Schumpeter, and Keynes forecasted that capitalism cannot survive in terms of laissez-faire systems. Marx and Schumpeter maintained that socialism will necessarily substitute capitalism; and Keynes maintained that in order to retain capitalist systems, present laissez-faire systems have to be substituted by systems characterized by market intervention in order to avoid and correct market failures. This course investigates the different ideas and theories upon which Marx, Schumpeter and Keynes base their forecasts. Do they form forecasts regarding the future development of capitalism on the basis of empirical, i.e., testable economic and sociological theories and have these forecasts to be regarded as scientific and testable predictions? Or do they have to be regarded as non-scientific prophecies, based on non-empirical and non-testable theories like laws of historical development and metaphysical ideas? Or are these forecasts simply singular historical hypotheses in terms of extrapolations of trends? Problems discussed in this course are: performance and evaluation of the economic theories upon which these authors base their forecasts regarding the future development of capitalism; concepts of scientific predictions, prophecies and trends; different kinds of explanations such as explanations regarding development processes in contrast to laws of historical development; theories of philosophical and scientific determinism and indeterminism; possibilities of examining and criticising scientific predictions, prophecies and trends. Diligent students will learn to make sense of and evaluate the historical background as well as the performance of theories, the main criticisms and later developments of those controversies which implicitly still cover much ground in temporary discussions. Method: teaching consists of one unbroken 90-minute seminar; discussion of different text passages which students have to prepare on the basis of questions distributed in advance for every meeting.