Why Modern Economics Fails Humanity: Insights from Muhammad Yunus
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Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and microfinance pioneer, has long been known for his radical rethinking of conventional economics. His remark, “Economics is a meaningless subject,” speaks to his dissatisfaction with mainstream economic models that often fail to address real-world inequalities and human suffering. When Yunus told Time magazine that economics, as traditionally taught and practiced, is meaningless, he was not dismissing the discipline entirely but critiquing its dominant paradigms—those that prioritize profit maximization, market efficiency, and gross domestic product (GDP) growth at the expense of human dignity and social well-being. In many ways, Yunus's critique highlights a growing concern in both academic and public discourse: that mainstream economics, with its obsession over abstract models and statistical measurements, often misses the human dimension of economic life. But what exactly makes economics "meaningless" in Yunus's vie...