Summary Economics as a subject rests upon assumptions which are not ‘economic’ but invariably, implicitly or explicitly, impute the exercise of power. Neo‐classical economics pushes power into an ill‐defined decision between tyranny or choice in which the history of unequal power goes back to Ricardo and comes through Sraffa to the theory of unequal exchange and the claim for a new economic order. Keynes can be seen in the neo‐Ricardian line asking useful questions about the power of financial institutions at all levels of economic analysis and the forces obstructing development at the industry level.