Post-Autistic Economics: Criticism of Neoclassical Economics and Economics Education

Neo Classic Theory entered into a crisis in the sense of Kuhn’s approach to the crisis after the 1929 economic crisis and the publication of the General Theory, but after a while this crisis was surpassed and a paradigm change could not be realized. In other words, Neo Classic Theory, with the exception of this short period of crisis became the “normal science”. In spite of many critics existing largely enough in the literature, Neoclassic Theory and its actual versions were educated as the only relevant approach to the economy during the University economy education. The particularity of the Post Autistic Economy Movement as a critic of Neo Classic economy is that it was developed by the students,” who had been the subject of the economy education, technically “output” of this system. Post-Autistic Economics (PAE) is a movement of different groups of economists critical of the mainstream or neoclassical economics. It was initiated by a group of dissatisfied students of economics in France in 2000. The Students in their petitions declare that they wish to escape from imaginary worlds, they oppose the uncontrolled use of mathematics as an end in itself and they are for a pluralism of approaches in economics. According to the proponents of Post- Autistic Economics Movement, the teaching of economics offered by universities today is essentially a reflection of neoclassical theory or similar approaches derived from it. Therefore, it does not generally answer the expectations of students. It has been proposed that two fundamental features of university education should be the diversity of the theoretical approaches introduced in economics courses and the training of students in critical thinking. But under the neoclassical regime in higher education, neither is possible, and often the latter is deliberately discouraged. The members of the movement demand that alternative theories such as Marxian, Keynesian, and institutional and evolutionary economics be taught alongside the neoclassical theory in universities. The Post-Autistic Movement argues that the excessive use of mathematics is responsible for producing economists who are brilliant technically but ignorant of basic facts in sociology, history, and the development of their own discipline. Thus, the aim of this study is to explain of the fundamental suggestions of the Post-Autistic Economics in particular and to discuss the present state of the education of economics in universities in general. This works includes two chapters with an introduction and conclusion. In the first chapter, the creation process of the Post Autistic economy movement and its main characteristics were narrated. The second chapter includes a critic of the Neo Classic economy movement. The last and third chapter is about the debates about economy education.