ABSTRACT
This defence of the economic perspective is not induced by chauvinism or a desire to protect vested interests, but because economics is, and always has been, a subject which has promoted co-ordination, co-operation and creativity as the highest ideals in the province of human behaviour. Infusion of political forces, for example, into economic analysis signals a loss of idealism, an acceptance of the power of interest groups formed by history. When the ideals that economists strive towards are not being achieved, economics fragments and pessimism becomes the order of the day. The presence of crisis in the economy, on the one hand, merely strengthens the conflictual view of economic relations while, on the other hand, the difficulties faced by economic policy-makers encourage the view. that intervention is ineffectual.
