
How Economists Depoliticized the Economy
Economist Clara Mattei explains how her profession has provided elites with a justification for austerity and exploitation.
Clara Mattei is a professor of economics at the University of Tulsa and founding president of the Forum for Real Economic Emancipation.

Economist Clara Mattei explains how her profession has provided elites with a justification for austerity and exploitation.

Economics departments across the United States slavishly adhere to the mainstream consensus on austerity and the free market. The Center for Heterodox Economics thinks there’s a better way.

Austerity is not bad economics. It is a century-old project to undermine democracy in crucial areas of our lives.

Today marks 100 years since Benito Mussolini became Italy’s prime minister. His first governments pursued austerity and suppressed the labor movement — earning him the praise of liberal economists both in Italy and abroad.