SOCIOL 173 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Alan Greenspan, Sociological Perspectives
Document Summary
First things first: class rules and requirements, assignments, exams, grading, office hours, etc. Difference between mainstream neoclassical economic and sociological perspectives: Neoclassical economic assumptions: a) economy = analytically separable realm, has own internal dynamics (politics, culture, etc. Self-regulating economy, competition brings innovation, equilibrium is established through prices, etc. Rational, utility-maximizing individual behavior no room for social relations such as negotiations, mutual adjustments, social ties. & groups are not simply aggregates of individuals. We want to understand rather than model social life any social or economic policy has to be based on understanding, i. e. , involves data. 1 and analysis, the consideration of complex relationships and institutional dynamics, past and present, etc. The problem is that the assumptions underlying the economic model are not only very simple, they are also very strong and widely unrealistic. The cost is that economic policy premised on [such] simple assumptions often lead to unintended and dysfunctional consequences. (joseph bowen, the two faces of american.
