For citation:
Sukhikh, V. V. (2025). The Digital Revolution, the Crisis of Economic Theory, and the Return of Utopias. AlterEconomics, 22(1), 54–65. https://doi.org/10.31063/AlterEconomics/2025.22-1.5
Abstract:
The digital revolution has presented significant challenges for economics, with an increasing number of economists recognizing that economic theory is in crisis. While solutions have been proposed, their implementation remains lacking. This article aims to identify the consequences of this crisis and highlight the most promising proposals for overcoming it. Developing a new paradigm capable of explaining and predicting societal and economic changes has proven more difficult than anticipated by early digital revolution futurists. The main conclusion of this article is that there is a gap between theoretical economists and active participants in the digital revolution. The latter are increasingly influenced by previously marginal ideologies such as anarchism and anarcho-capitalism, which are now being viewed as both relevant and feasible due to the influence of digital technologies. This shift is evident in the growing number of publications exploring anarchist views in economic journals. Modern utopian thinkers place their hope in collective creativity, which can achieve what individual geniuses once could not. Contemporary economic theory, with its emphasis on interdisciplinarity, similarly advocates for collaboration among scholars in developing new theories. The digital revolution has significantly expanded the boundaries of economic possibility, offering the hope that it will lead not to a deeper crisis in economic theory but to the emergence of a new scientific paradigm that can better explain global processes.
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