Robert Heilbroner

Adam Smith Goes to Moscow is a captivating dialogue between the head of a hypothetical, formerly socialist East European country and a fervently market-minded American adviser. Their spirited give-and-take highlights the monumental political as well as economic complexities currently faced by the former Soviet bloc countries as they struggle to transform themselves into free market economies.

With its roots in history and eyes on the future, this book traces the development of our economic society from the Middle Ages to the present, offering a balanced perspective of why our economy is the way it is and where it may be headed. It explores the catalytic role past economic trends and dynamics–particularly capitalism–have played in creating the present challenges we face, and offers suggestions on how we may deal with them most effectively in the future.

`This is an exceedingly long short book, stretching at least fifty thousand years into the past and who knows how many into the future...' So begins Visions of the Future, the prophetic new book by Robert Heilbroner. Heilbroner's basic premise is stunning in its elegant simplicity. He contends that throughout all of human history there have really only been three distinct ways of looking at the future. In the Distant Past (Prehistory to the 17th century) there was no notion of a future measurably and materially different from the present or the past. In the period he calls Yesterday (1700-1950), science, capitalism, and democracy gave humanity an unwavering faith in the superiority of the future. While Today, we feel a palpable anxiety that is quite apart from both the resignation of the Distant past or the bright optimism of Yesterday.

The public has long been painfully aware of the economy’s current stagnation. The contemporary recession has brought to the foreground problems which have been germinating for decades. Falling real wages, slow productivity growth, and the loss of international competitiveness in major industries are all outgrowths of long-term developments that predate the current crisis. As the United States moves from a position of global economic leadership to one of economic interdependence, we need new approaches to explain the dramatic changes in the US economy. This collection of essays, written by leading scholars, presents a systematic analysis of the nation’s economic woes. The authors furnish more than hard-hitting criticisms of the US economy. They provide hope as they offer solutions to America’s most pressing economic problems.

The public has long been painfully aware of the economy's stagnation. The contemporary recession has brought to the foreground problems which have been germinating for decades. Falling real wages, slow productivity growth, and the loss of international competitiveness in major industries all are outgrowths of long-term developments that predate this crisis. As the United States moves from a position of global economic leadership to one of economic interdependence, we need alternative approaches to explain the dramatic changes in the US economy. This collection of essays, written by leading scholars, presents a systematic analysis of the nation's economic woes. The authors furnish more than hard-hitting criticisms of the US economy. They provide hope as they offer solutions to America's most pressing economic problems.