Market fundamentalism, delusions and epistemic failures in policy and administration

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to overview and critique the over-reach of highly ideological assumptions of neo-classical economics into policy and governance terrains. The ontology and epistemology of neo-classical economics know no bounds in their imperial extension to non-market applications. The colonization of Public Administration in Australia, and elsewhere, is a vexing epistemological issue, demanding some reckoning. Design/methodology/approach – This deconstructive, critical essay seeks to provide a set of “check-lists” of issues for those teaching, or proselytizing, governance within highly reduced public domains. Findings – This paper moves an epistemological “audit” of “public choice theory” some steps forward, especially in the face of significant ideological and policy convergence, among putative social-democratic governance regimes, regarding out-sourcing, no-bid contracting, agency “capture”, risk and a renewed urgency for necessary re-regulation. The paper identifies policy imperatives for a new age of regulation after 35 years of prevailing “market fundamentalism”. Originality/value – There has been much hubris associated with so-called policy convergence in a globalized context. Deconstructing such hubris within a divergent world is long overdue for the next generation of scholars/policy apologists/rating agencies/and economists prone to some reflexivity in plying their “dismal” trade.

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