itte es ▁ ▁Histor ian ▁of ▁culture ▁and ▁of ▁econom ics ▁T ogether ▁with ▁Eli ▁G in z berg , ▁a ▁professor ▁of ▁econom ics ▁at ▁Columbia , ▁E ich ner ▁author ed ▁an ▁economic ▁history ▁of ▁African ▁Americans , ▁The ▁Tr ou bles ome ▁Pres ence : ▁The ▁American ▁Dem ocracy ▁and ▁the ▁Neg ro , ▁published ▁in ▁ 1 9 6 4 . ▁ ▁These ▁co - auth ors ▁wrote ▁that ... ▁“ of ▁the ▁several ▁million ▁persons ▁who ▁reached ▁Great ▁Britain ’ s ▁North ▁American ▁colon ies ▁before ▁ 1 7 7 6 , ▁it ▁is ▁conserv atively ▁estimated ▁that ▁close ▁to ▁ 8 0 ▁percent ▁arrived ▁under ▁some ▁form ▁of ▁serv itude .” ▁ ▁The ▁science ▁of ▁econom ics ? ▁Some ▁main stream ▁econom ists ▁have ▁argued ▁that ▁assumptions ▁about ▁the ▁character ▁of ▁economic ▁reality ▁in ▁the ▁ne oc lass ical ▁economic ▁parad ig m ▁are ▁fund ament ally ▁fla wed . ▁Point s ▁arg u ably ▁making ▁a ▁convin cing ▁case ▁that ▁the ▁mathematical ▁theories ▁used ▁by ▁ne oc lass ical ▁econom ists ▁cannot ▁be ▁viewed ▁as ▁scientific ▁have ▁consist ently ▁been ▁made ▁by ▁trained ▁econom ists . ▁Alfred ▁E ich ner ▁in ▁Why ▁Econom ics ▁Is ▁Not ▁Yet ▁a ▁Science ▁offers ▁the ▁following ▁comment ary ▁on ▁the ▁discipline ▁of ▁econom ics ▁as ▁a ▁social ▁system : ▁ ▁.... ' The ▁ref us al ▁to ▁abandon ▁the ▁myth ▁of ▁the ▁market ▁as ▁a ▁self - reg ulating ▁system ▁is ▁not ▁the ▁result ▁of ▁a ▁consp i racy ▁on