ABSTRACT
Over the course of the past two centuries – roughly the age of the ‘escape from poverty’ – economic thinking, teaching, and research have played an immensely important role. This is still true today. Therefore, what happens in economics as a science is of great importance for a transition to what we call responsible capitalism. Fortunately, what we see here is remarkable. In recent years, the contours of an emerging ‘paradigm shift’ can be discerned in economic science. In the classic theory of paradigm shifts, this does not imply that the previous paradigm immediately becomes obsolete. Only when alternative theories and explanations arise that give a better take on reality does the core of an existing paradigm come under attack and is gradually replaced by the new paradigm, based on different assumptions. 1 We believe that this is actually happening right now. We can point here only to some of the most eye-catching developments and transitions, especially the recent ones.
