IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wea/econth/v5y2016i1p1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Commodities in Economics: Loving or Hating Complexity

Author

Listed:
  • M. Shahid Alam

    (Department of Economics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA)

Abstract

A review of economic thought since the sixteenth century reveals two streams of economic discourse, dirigisme and laissez-faire. Starting with the mercantilists, dirigiste approaches to economics embrace the real-world complexity of commodities that often differ greatly in attributes that are growth- and rent- augmenting. Most importantly, this means that free trade is likely to be polarising: it concentrates growth- and rent-augmenting commodities in countries that already enjoy a head start in these commodities. Advanced countries, therefore, support laissez-faire, while lagging countries tend to support dirigisme. In order to rationalise their laissez-faire stance, advanced countries began developing a new economic discourse that strips commodities of their complexity. The foundations for this ideological reconstruction of economics were first laid by Adam Smith; this process eventually reached its climax with the neoclassical economists who stripped commodities down to one attribute: their capital intensity. In opposition to this laissez-faire economics, other writers, supportive of the interests of lagging countries, brought complexity back into their economic discourse; they argued that lagging countries had a fighting chance of catching up to advanced economies only by indigenising a growing array of growth- and rent-augmenting commodities.

Suggested Citation

  • M. Shahid Alam, 2016. "Commodities in Economics: Loving or Hating Complexity," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 5(1), pages 1-1, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:wea:econth:v:5:y:2016:i:1:p:1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://et.worldeconomicsassociation.org/papers/commodities-in-economics-loving-or-hating-complexity/
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: http://et.worldeconomicsassociation.org/files/WEA-ET-5-1-Alam.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. M. Shahid Alam, 2000. "Poverty from the Wealth of Nations," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-333-98564-9, October.
    2. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    3. Jacques Fontanel & Jean-Paul Hébert & Ivan Samson, 2008. "The birth of the political economy or the economy in the heart of politics," Post-Print hal-02059663, HAL.
    4. Kennedy, Charles & Thirlwall, A P, 1972. "Technical Progress: A Survey," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 82(325), pages 11-72, March.
    5. Gregory Clark, 2007. "Introduction to A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World," Introductory Chapters, in: A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World, Princeton University Press.
    6. Alam, M. Shahid, 2013. "Constant Returns to Scale: Can the Neoclassical Economy Exist?," MPRA Paper 45153, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Jacques Fontanel & Jean-Paul Hebert & Ivan Samson, 2008. "The Birth Of The Political Economy Or The Economy In The Heart Of Politics: Mercantilism," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(5), pages 331-338.
    8. Roy J. Ruffin, 2002. "David Ricardo's Discovery of Comparative Advantage," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 34(4), pages 727-748, Winter.
    9. Krugman, Paul R., 1979. "Increasing returns, monopolistic competition, and international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 469-479, November.
    10. Hicks, John, 1989. "The Assumption of Constant Returns to Scale," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 13(1), pages 9-17, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dariusz Kotlewski, 2022. "Przesłanki za wykorzystaniem rachunkowości wzrostu gospodarczego w badaniu specjalizacji regionalnych," Ekonomista, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne, issue 2, pages 235-258.
    2. Charles I. Jones & Paul M. Romer, 2010. "The New Kaldor Facts: Ideas, Institutions, Population, and Human Capital," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 224-245, January.
    3. Lucy Badalian & Victor Krivorotov, 2009. "Economic development as domestication of a geoclimatic zone: The historic East-West divide and the current trends towards its closure," Journal of Innovation Economics, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(1), pages 13-48.
    4. Knaap, T., 1998. "A survey of complementaries in growth and location theories," Research Report 98C44, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    5. repec:dgr:rugsom:98c44 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Kawalec Paweł, 2020. "The dynamics of theories of economic growth: An impact of Unified Growth Theory," Economics and Business Review, Sciendo, vol. 6(2), pages 19-44, June.
    7. Irwan Shah Zainal Abidin & Nor Aznin Abu Bakar & Muhammad Haseeb, 2014. "An Empirical Analysis of Exports between Malaysia and TPP Member Countries: Evidence from a Panel Cointegration (FMOLS) Model," Modern Applied Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(6), pages 238-238, December.
    8. Gary Madden & Scott J. Savage, 1998. "Sources of Australian Labour Productivity Change 1950–1994," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 74(227), pages 362-372, December.
    9. Jacques Fontanel, 2020. "Une croissance économique sans progrès humain," Post-Print hal-03709037, HAL.
    10. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:2:y:2002:i:1:p:1-15 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Ahmed S. Rahman, 2008. "A Tale of Two Skill Premia," Working Papers 8021, Economic History Society.
    12. Alexander B. Darku, 2021. "International trade and income convergence: Sorting out the nature of bilateral trade," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 5337-5348, October.
    13. Freire Junior, Clovis, 2017. "Economic diversification: Explaining the pattern of diversification in the global economy and its implications for fostering diversification in poorer countries," MERIT Working Papers 2017-033, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    14. Beaudry, Paul & Collard, Fabrice, 2003. "Globalization, Gains from Specialization and the World Distribution of Output," IDEI Working Papers 199, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse.
    15. Teerawat Charoenrat & Yot Amornkitvikai, 2024. "Factors Affecting the Export Intensity of Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 25(4), pages 957-980, August.
    16. Richard Green & Nicholas Vasilakos, 2012. "Storing Wind for a Rainy Day: What Kind of Electricity Does Denmark Export?," The Energy Journal, , vol. 33(3), pages 1-22, July.
    17. Ahmed S. Rahman, 2010. "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Industrialization," Departmental Working Papers 27, United States Naval Academy Department of Economics.
    18. Minor, Peter J., 2010. "Time as a Barrier to Trade: A GTAP Database of ad valorem Trade Time Costs," Conference papers 331960, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    19. Mark Staley, 2010. "Innovation, diffusion and the distribution of income in a Malthusian economy," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 20(5), pages 689-714, October.
    20. Fanny Coulomb & Jacques Fontanel, 2012. "Economic peace and security," Post-Print hal-02190342, HAL.
    21. Gros, Daniel & Alcidi, Cinzia, 2014. "The Global Economy in 2030: Trends and Strategies for Europe," CEPS Papers 9142, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    22. Frankema, Ewout & van Waijenburg, Marlous, 2019. "The Great Convergence. Skill Accumulation and Mass Education in Africa and Asia, 1870-2010," CEPR Discussion Papers 14150, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wea:econth:v:5:y:2016:i:1:p:1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jake McMurchie (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/worecea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.