| > Anthropology has a lot to say about economic history, particularly when it comes to debunking some of the foundational myths like Smith's 'barter theory.' It is not a foundational myth. It is certainly a topic of interest for some economists, but it is not something that you would get asked during your qualifying exams. Dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models are far more foundational. > a lot of what passes for economic 'common sense' is actually historical narrative, which is exactly where anthropology excels Everything is a text, therefore a literary studies professor is an expert on everything. Everything is a result of human action, therefore an economist is an expert on everything. Everything is a result of social interaction, therefore a sociologist is an expert on everything. That’s a dangerous attitude that’s unfortunately common among such fields as sociology, psychology, literary studies and economics. It overstates the expertise of people in the field and mystifies the field itself. Being an anthropologist doesn’t make you an expert on QM and GR just because the history of physics is a history of narratives. > Cross-pollination between disciplines is how we get past stale paradigms. There are lots of people who already do that out there. Economics is ripe with such examples, both past and recent. But being hostile and acting as if you know more than people who study the subject for a living leads nowhere. > I'd also like to point out that economic anthropology is an academic field in it own right, for which Graber is considered a significant contributor. And so is economics, for which Graeber is not considered a significant contributor. And that’s okay. The gift economy of Madagascar and the technicalities of the federal reserve system are very different topics. And it is possible to know a lot about one of them without knowing much about the other. |
Cool.