The Illusion Of The Epoch Neoclassical Economics As A...

This paper will be a summary, review and response to the piece written by John F. Henry titled The Illusion of the Epoch: Neoclassical Economics as a Case Study. This essay written by John F. Henry is an examination of ideas put forward by Karl Marx as well as Friedrich Engel in The German Ideology and their correlation with the principles of neoclassical economics. This idea is referred to as the â€Å"Illusion of the epoch† and is described by Henry as being â€Å"A conceptual framework in which the ideas of the dominant economic class are the dominant ideas in a society and increasingly present themselves as both abstract and universal† (Henry 28) Basically, this means that those in power and those with influence being political, economic, or even social ultimately decide what happens in society and often these ideas are taken as universal truths despite what may actually be. He goes on to explain how that in a â€Å"minority ruling class society† those who ar e in the minority ruling class must try to rationalize to the much larger working class that the interests of the elites are in the best interest of the society as a whole. In this paper, the Illusion of the epoch will be explored, as well as how this illusion effects economies throughout time. In addition, it will use neoclassical economics as a base point, and respond to assertions made by J.F. Henry in his piece. John F. Henry goes on to say that throughout history, this illusion takes its toll in