Global Economic Crisis and the Innovation of Korean Economics

This paper suggests an innovation agenda for Korean economics for overcoming the crisis of Korean economics revealeddecisively by 1997 financial crisis in Korea and the 2008 global economic crisis. The paper argues that knowledge dependence on mainstream American economics and knowledge uniformity biased toward the methodological individualism of neoclassical economics are major factors facilitating crises in Korean economics. In addition, the paper clarifies the causes of knowledge dependence and knowledge uniformity: a low level of knowledge accumulation, the unquestioning following of foreign knowledge, the use of outdated methods for knowledge creation, and a lack of support for the reproduction of scholars. The proposed innovation agenda for Korean economics entails the realization of autonomy and diversityin economics research and education. For autonomy, Korean economics should achieve the glocalization of knowledge. For diversity, it is necessary to overcome knowledge fundamentalism, which prevails in Korean economics. Further, any program for education innovation in economics should be based on three principles: reality, diversity, and totality.