TRANSFORMATION OF THE MAINSTREAM METHODOLOGY IN THE INFORMATION ECONOMY OF XXI CENTURY

Abstract

The article investigates methodological failures of mainstream economics to explain the current economic life in the era of information dominance that is marked by widespread effects of information asymmetry and infoglut, which undercut the rationality concept. Its purpose is to determine the ways of transformation of the mainstream methodology under such changes of the economy in the XXI century. Approaching this goal the author traces the evolution of mainstream economics under increasing risk, uncertainty and irrationality. Their crucial rise is inspired by different kinds of informational manipulations. Among them are manipulation with a quality of a good, expected competitive strategies of rivals, expected return on capital, regulatory changes, etc. One of them – manipulation with a quality of a good – is modelled in the article to show its ability to provide the multiplicity of market equilibriums that undercuts the efficiency of fundamental equilibrium models of mainstream economics. The article argues the way to cope with this problem, suggesting complementation of the concept of bounded rationality with the concept of predictable irrationality. There is a scope of research witch argues that irrationality of economic actors has a low entropy, complying with separation effect, bandwagon effect, etc. The others argue split effect on market boundaries. Both approaches, keeping the predictable irrationality, taper the window of market equilibriums and create the strong basis of equilibrium models’ coming back to the core of economic theory. However, the restoration is done at the new methodological basis that asks for change of economic analysis tools: substitution of strict econometric models with dynamic conceptual ones, shift from research of the exact algorithms to research of fundamental principles of economic choice, complementation of traditional economic analysis instruments with the psychological ones. Keeping such basic milestones at the first steps of analysis helps to approach to narrower multiplicity of the options of economic choice, within which the mainstream models steel work.