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Public Policy Adrift: Veblen’s Blind Drift and Neoliberalism

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  • William Waller

Abstract

This paper considers the factors that currently shape and direct public policy formation in the United States. The paper begins by articulating the general position of institutionalists with regard to the purpose of public policy analysis and formulation. Next, a discussion of Thorstein Veblen’s view is presented focusing on his rejection of meliorative tendencies in the economy and the meaning of his concept of blind drift as applied to the likely direction of ongoing social processes. Then, we explore a contemporary analysis of the belief in the role of meliorative trends in contemporary social and economic policy analysis and discussions by James K. Galbraith. Then, we examine Philip Mirowski’s recent analysis of the shaping of the direction of public policy debate by what he refers to as the neoliberal thought collective as a mitigating factor to the blind drift suggested by Thorstein Veblen.

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  • William Waller, 2017. "Public Policy Adrift: Veblen’s Blind Drift and Neoliberalism," Forum for Social Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(3), pages 223-233, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:fosoec:v:46:y:2017:i:3:p:223-233
    DOI: 10.1080/07360932.2016.1176948
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    Cited by:

    1. Franklin Obeng-Odoom, 2018. "The contribution of J.R. Commons to migration analysis," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 73-88, June.
    2. Franklin Obeng-Odoom, 2023. "Spatial political economy: the case of metropolitan industrial policy," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 137-163, April.

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