zombie economics

This was the title of a book written by John Quiggin, an Australian economist, and published in 2010. It had the subtitle How Dead Ideas Still Walk Among Us.  Quiggin acknowledges that he borrowed the term from Paul Krugman, an American economist.  He thought that, in the wake of the GFC the theory of economic rationalism would be well and truly dead, but no, it was rising again in a slightly modified form, a zombie form.

 As we come out of lockdown there are many economic paths being suggested. 

The disparaging phrase zombie economics has resurfaced as one economist pooh-poohs the theories of another.  One such idea that has come in for question is that market forces will resolve any problem of whatever nature.  The Liberal Party has found itself adopting socialist market interventions as it became clear that market forces would bring about ruin for many people.