In efforts to counter the international macroeconomic monopoly of the economic policy debate I have contacted various editors and journalists about causes of, and solutions to, the Great Recession. My sole achievement has been to demonstrate how solid is the monopoly of that debate. No editor or journalist has been willing to publish one word on these subjects, despite the most dire economic and financial conditions since WW2.

The media experience is matched by that with senior academic economists, who have been correspondingly unresponsive. It also tallies with the evident lack of media coverage of the responsibility of macroeconomics for the economic and financial crises, and of the real causes of those crises.

Apparently, large self-interest, vested interests, ideological commitment and inertia are involved. While acknowledging the effectiveness and efficiency of the macroeconomic orthodoxy’s tactics over the years, the situation is very bad for the international public interest and economic welfare.

As representative of the techniques whose appropriate use in policy and public administration would have avoided the Great Recession the System Dynamics Society (SDS) bears heavy responsibility for the present situation. Had the SDS and its community displayed anything like the cohesion, commitment, determination and flair of the macro-econometric communities over the years, the situation now could be very different.

I would guess that editors and journalists have, like most potential users of the techniques, never heard of system dynamics, after fifty years. In that case they are understandably reluctant to pursue an assertion that use of the techniques would have avoided the present situation. In those fifty years the SDS has done nothing to establish system dynamics in its rightful status as the techniques of choice for policy formulation and regulation etc.

However, editors and journalists can still be criticised for

• disregarding the message that the bankruptcy of macroeconomics had previously been documented by senior academic economists;

• failing to investigate the real causes of the Great Recession;

• being uncritical fellow travellers of the macroeconomic orthodoxy.

Solutions, based on system dynamics, to the respective causes of the economic crisis and the financial crisis are known and could be made available. If this was done, however, it is certain that economic and financial authorities would simply ignore those solutions for ideological and vested-interest reasons. It is also certain that they could now do this with impunity.

It is necessary to change the playing field.That can only be achieved by:

• Obtaining support from interests that would gain from more-effective and
  -efficient policy and regulation.

• Replicating the qualities previously displayed by the macro-econometric communities).

• Securing publicity for the present situation in the policy areas.

• Exerting effective pressure to end the macro orthodoxy’s monopoly.