Economic Interest Paradigm

The Economic Interest Paradigm (EIP) is that the primary responsibility of governments is to protect the economic interest of its citizens. there is a traditional definition which focuses on methods for effective political economy as well as a more radical alternative which critiques current economic trends as being too closely focused on individual economic attainments, often at the expense of social and environmental concerns. The events of 2008-10 and the shift towards austerity as the sole mode of economic governance is being challenged by many who see this as a narrow reading of the EIP in that it focuses on the economic interests of a small group of investors and debtors rather than a more general approach to social economic justice. There are many theorists (Chomsky, Zizek) who challenge the current economic model as being too narrowly focused on short-term profits, fluctuations in the stock markets and lacking in a long-term jobs and social cohesion strategy. While many would question whether the EIP exists in the way that it did before 2008 the lack of a clear alternative and the focus on restoring the economic institutions to pre-recession levels ensures that enough of the EIP still exists to overrule attempts to reform the global economy.
Ideological background
Much of the EIP owes it nature to Freudian insights into the nature of human desire but owes as much to neo-liberal economics as it does to psychoanalysis.

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