The State, Noonomy and Post-Classical Political Economy

The article examines the new role played by the state as a deliberate economic actor. The basis here is provided by the direct activity of the state in regulating the economy, as is characteristic of all economically developed countries. But at the same time, market regulators are beginning to die away, and are already fulfilling a secondary role. This situation is resulting in a change to the economy itself, with the previous goal of development-the maximising of profits-being replaced by the maximising of social utility. The degree and significance of conscious economic regulation, whose basis is scientific knowledge, is increasing. A new quality of the economy, designated by the article as noonomy, is emerging; this is steeped in scientific knowledge and in planned, considered regulation. The objective basis of this process is a new technological order within which production is permeated by complex technological systems, and for which knowledge-intensive production is a primary requirement. All this is serving to bring changes to political economy. In place of the classical political economy that concentrated on research into questions of market production and exchange, the new political economy or post-classical political economy studies the relations between people from the angle of social utility, that is, the exchanging of knowledge, information and activity with the goal of achieving economies in the use of social time.