Donald A. R. George is an economist and Honorary Fellow at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Economics. He holds degrees in pure mathematics from the University of Sussex and economics from the University of Oxford. Throughout his career, George has held various academic positions, including Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute in Italy, Visiting Associate Professor of Economics at Queen’s University in Canada, and Visiting Professor of Economics at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.
George’s research primarily focuses on the economics of worker participation and self-management, product reliability, and economic dynamics. He has published extensively on these topics and has been invited to speak at numerous institutions worldwide, such as Cornell University, the University of Melbourne, and Uppsala University. He advocates for a pluralist approach to economics, avoiding the sterile formalism that he believes hampers much of the discipline.
Among his notable publications is “Economic Democracy: The Political Economy of Self-Management and Participation,”[1] which delves into the economics of cooperatives and worker participation. Additionally, George has contributed to the field through publications such as “The non-robustness of saddle-point dynamics: A methodological perspective”[2] and “Surveys in Economic Dynamics,”[3] reflecting his interest in economic dynamics and mathematical modelling.
In his article “Consolations for the Economist: The Future of Economic Orthodoxy,”[4] George explores the future of economic orthodoxy, further emphasizing his commitment to a diverse and inclusive approach to economic thought.
Throughout his career, Donald A. R. George has made significant contributions to the understanding of economic systems that emphasize worker participation and self-management, while also engaging with broader discussions on the evolution and methodology of economic science.
[1] Macmillan, 1993, (available as an e-book from Springer, 2016)
[2] In Keynesian, Sraffian, Computable and Dynamic Economics (K Velupillai, ed), Palgrave/ Macmillan, 2021
[3] Basil Blackwell, 2000
[4] In Journal of Economic Surveys, vol 21, 2007 (reprinted in Issues in Heterodox Economics (D A R George ed.), Blackwell, 2008)