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In September 1993, ICAPE founders stated: 
<http://www.econ.tcu.edu/econ/icare/purpose.html> 
    
"There presently exists a number of societies and associations of 
economists and other social scientists, all of which are united by their 
concern about the theoretical and practical limitations of neoclassical 
economics. In addition, they share the conviction that the current 
dominance of the subject by mainstream economics threatens academic freedom 
and is contrary to the norm of methodological pluralism. Furthermore, this 
dominance is highly detrimental to scientific creativity and debate, and to 
the development of realistic, innovative, and useful economic analysis and 
relevant policies." 
    
On Dec 06, 2002, Peter J. Boettke wrote: (in this HES thread) 
"We who are heterodox might not always like the _way_ these things are 
being 
discussed, but it would be foolish for us to deny that heterodox themes are 
not being addressed, and silly not to recognize that the very idea of a 
"neoclassical" hegemony is something that passed into history in the 1980s. 
We are contending now with a totally different beast and it is unclear how 
to effectively wrestle with it if that was one's design." 
    
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How to effectively wrestle with it: that is the question. 
    
I hope some readers may like to answer the question broken down into the 
following sub-questions: 
    
1. What is an institution? Does it differ from a mechanism? If so, exactly 
how? 
    
2. What exactly is missed if one does not incorporate institutions in 
economic analysis? 
    
3. How does one formalize the institutional constraint/context in 
individual and social decisions? 
    
4. What does it imply for formal analysis of price, quantity, and the 
circulation of money? 
    
5. Is the market an institution? If so, how? Is the state another 
institution? If so, how does it differ from a market? How do they interact? 
Is there an institutional equilibrium? 
    
6. How does an institution change from inside and react to changes from 
outside? 
    
7. If the answer is not expressed as an equation, why should I bother? 
    
Mohammad Gani 
 
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