Essentials of Constructive Heterodoxy: Employment

Abstract

Orthodox economics is founded on behavioral assumptions. This has been the wrong starting point because no way leads from there to an understanding of how the economic system works. Critical Heterodoxy is one step ahead insofar as it does not accept the green cheese assumptionism of optimization and supply-demand-equilibrium, yet this is not sufficient to establish a superior paradigm. What we have at the moment is a plurality of debunked theories. This is not a tenable situation. Consequently, Constructive Heterodoxy is focused on the formally consistent reconstruction of central economic phenomena like market, money, profit, and -- in this paper -- employment.

Keywords: new framework of concepts, structure-centric, law of supply and demand, price flexibility, structural labor market inertia, income multiplier, stagflation, deflation

JEL Classification: B59, E24