RETHINKING ECONOMICS: BEYOND THE PARADIGM OF INSTRUMENTAL RATIONALITY
Contenido principal del artículo
Resumen
ABSTRACT
This paper critically examines contemporary mainstream economics, revealing it to be in a state of profound paradigm crisis characterized by an excessive focus on instrumental rationality at the expense of value rationality. Tracing the intellectual evolution from Classical foundations (Smith’s division of labor, Ricardo’s comparative advantage) through Keynesian demand management and subsequent challenges from Hayek and Friedman, the analysis highlights a trajectory where economics progressively distanced itself from socio-political realities and phenomenological depth through mathematical formalization. The discipline, originally a servant to political science concerning wealth production and distribution, faces significant paradoxes: Its limited predictive power for markets and crises contradicts its prominent societal status; the market-state dichotomy questions the necessity of economists; and internal theoretical fragmentation (monetarism, rational expectations, supply-side economics) weakens its explanatory power. Ultimately, the paper argues for a fundamental rebalancing, advocating for a dialectical unity of instrumental and value rationality to address the core theoretical presuppositions, methodological flaws, developmental imbalances, and adverse real-world consequences stemming from the current crisis.
REPENSAR LA ECONOMÍA: MÁS ALLÁ DEL PARADIGMA DE LA RACIONALIDAD INSTRUMENTAL
RESUMEN
Este artículo examina críticamente la economía dominante contemporánea, revelando que se encuentra en un estado de profunda crisis paradigmática caracterizada por una excesiva focalización en la racionalidad instrumental en detrimento de la racionalidad axiológica. Rastreando la evolución intelectual desde sus fundamentos clásicos (la división del trabajo de Smith, la ventaja comparativa de Ricardo) pasando por la gestión keynesiana de la demanda y los subsiguientes desafíos planteados por Hayek y Friedman, el análisis destaca una trayectoria en la que la economía se distanció progresivamente de las realidades sociopolíticas y la profundidad fenomenológica mediante la formalización matemática. La disciplina, originalmente una servidora de la ciencia política en lo concerniente a la producción y distribución de la riqueza, enfrenta paradojas significativas: su limitado poder predictivo para los mercados y las crisis contradice su prominente estatus social; la dicotomía mercado-estado cuestiona la necesidad misma de los economistas, y la fragmentación teórica interna (monetarismo, expectativas racionales, economía del lado de la oferta) debilita su poder explicativo. En última instancia, el artículo aboga por un reequilibrio fundamental, defendiendo una unidad dialéctica de la racionalidad instrumental y la axiológica para abordar los presupuestos teóricos centrales, las fallas metodológicas, los desequilibrios en el desarrollo y las adversas consecuencias en el mundo real derivadas de la crisis actual.
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