Galbraith

Galbraith
Name
Institution
Date
Thesis
As an economist and a radical to the Keynesian economist, Galbraith believed that with proper intervention by the government; disparities in poverty and inequality and related phenomena caused by capitalism can be modeled towards the welfare of the majority. He focused the argument in some of the dysfunctional aspects of the capitalism system: promotion of growth by accumulating capital; concentration of capital in a monopoly and the undermining of a free market.
Outline
Galbraith
Market socialism
Galbraith
John Kenneth Galbraith has made many contributions to economics, both negative positive. Fellow economists see Galbraith’s approach to economics as undesirable to the field of economics. Galbraith is basically concerned with the power accumulated by large corporations and their imperatives towards the economy. He has criticized politicians who align themselves with the objectives of the large corporation instead of acting in the public interest (). He also claims the little knowledge of the real world possessed by economists. His argument follows the conventional wisdom of economics held by the people and argues that people should be more receptive to other systems of understanding economics.
The overarching argument in this concept is the nexus between power and economy. An understanding of power is crucial for understanding the firm, as the firm is an institution that seeks to control and supersede the market in order to expand the influence of its bureaucratic apparatus, what Galbraith labels ‘the technostructure’(). This examines the exercise of power and the factors that lead to the rise of poverty for those without power. Conversely, understanding of power and social counter policies can improve the economic performance to improve the lives of those marginalized by the lack of power. Galbraith’s argument can be understood in three aspects.
Power and the Firm
In the years between 1936 and 1949, Galbraith was exploring the evolution of large corporations. However it was not until 1952 that he began to break away from the neoclassical model and began to look at the possibility of an alternative theory on the same. He argues that the current models of economy are not an aberration of an earlier system. Rather, it is an advancement of an earlier production mode that has dominated hitherto.
In the current models, a number of firms are in oligopoly as they are the main channels of goods and services to the market demands. Thus they should be made powerless as competition keeps such authority bestowed by these firms in check. This is elaborated with an individual firm with a small management seeking to maximize profits where a firm will be kicked out of business if it does not seek to maximize profits. He further claims that firms that produce and sell most of the goods are managed through large bureaucracies and dominated by professional managers which can affect the products in terms of prices or quality dictated by these corporations.
Power and Poverty
This principle is characterized by the notion that the economic and the social world is...