Gunnar Myrdal as a Social Economist

Abstract

This paper seeks to establish that Gunnar Myrdal's writings should be considered a contribution to social economics. Although Myrdal has been referred to as a social economist, [Hacken, p. 140] his work in the history of economic thought and economic analysis has not been empha? sized by practitioners of this approach. That is, few social economists have included Myrdal's writings in their bibliographies. The following sections discuss the factors which led to Myrdal's unorthodox epistemol ogy, the characteristics of a practitioner of social economics and the scope of Myrdal's social economics. I Raised in an agrarian environment, Myrdal became imbued with the attitudes prevalent throughout the peasant class in early twentieth century Sweden. His childhood led him to develop a strong belief in the work ethic, to hold values stressing egalitarianism in social and eco? nomic matters and to adopt a rational, pragmatic approach toward problem solving. During his education in the gymnasium, he was intro? duced to the optimistic philosophy of the Enlightenment. Thereafter, he has held that human beings are basically good, that undesirable social conditions are not natural and that, because behavior is culturally conditioned, well-planned reforms and education can effectively allevi? ate society's problems. [Myrdal, 1956, p. 301] Upon completing graduate work in economic theory, Myrdal received a Rockefeller Foundation award to study in the United States. He and his wife Alva1 spent the 1929-1930 period travelling and studying in America. This experience, which included their observing racial tension and poverty for the first time, encouraged them to become politically active upon their return to Sweden. As proponents of the Philosophy of Enlightenment, they saw themselves as social engineers devoted to serv? ing society by working to introduce planned, egalitarian reforms. For the past half century, they have become perhaps the paradigm for civil