Warren J Samuels

Institutional economics is recognised as a peculiarly American development in economics — nothing quite like it emerged in Britain or continental Europe. As such, a knowledge of the literature of institutionalism is a necessary part of understanding the history of American economics and American social thought more broadly. The work of the authors featured in this collection served to create and define the American institutionalist tradition in economics: Thorstein Veblen, Richard Theodore Ely, John Rogers Commons, Robert Franklin Hoxie, Wesley Clair Mitchell and Walton Hale Hamilton. These figures were also central to institutionalism’s numerous debates on the unifying characteristics of the movement and its principal contributions — making this collection of their most important works a convenient vehicle to assess these issues. It is also of increasing value given the fact that the main concerns of institutionalists, such as the role of institutions and development of an evolutionary approach, having been coming back into prominence as important issues in economics.

Institutional economics is recognised as a peculiarly American development in economics — nothing quite like it emerged in Britain or continental Europe. As such, a knowledge of the literature of institutionalism is a necessary part of understanding the history of American economics and American social thought more broadly. The work of the authors featured in this collection served to create and define the American institutionalist tradition in economics: Thorstein Veblen, Richard Theodore Ely, John Rogers Commons, Robert Franklin Hoxie, Wesley Clair Mitchell and Walton Hale Hamilton. These figures were also central to institutionalism’s numerous debates on the unifying characteristics of the movement and its principal contributions — making this collection of their most important works a convenient vehicle to assess these issues. It is also of increasing value given the fact that the main concerns of institutionalists, such as the role of institutions and development of an evolutionary approach, having been coming back into prominence as important issues in economics.

Institutional economics is recognised as a peculiarly American development in economics — nothing quite like it emerged in Britain or continental Europe. As such, a knowledge of the literature of institutionalism is a necessary part of understanding the history of American economics and American social thought more broadly. The work of the authors featured in this collection served to create and define the American institutionalist tradition in economics: Thorstein Veblen, Richard Theodore Ely, John Rogers Commons, Robert Franklin Hoxie, Wesley Clair Mitchell and Walton Hale Hamilton. These figures were also central to institutionalism’s numerous debates on the unifying characteristics of the movement and its principal contributions — making this collection of their most important works a convenient vehicle to assess these issues. It is also of increasing value given the fact that the main concerns of institutionalists, such as the role of institutions and development of an evolutionary approach, having been coming back into prominence as important issues in economics.

Institutional economics is recognised as a peculiarly American development in economics — nothing quite like it emerged in Britain or continental Europe. As such, a knowledge of the literature of institutionalism is a necessary part of understanding the history of American economics and American social thought more broadly. The work of the authors featured in this collection served to create and define the American institutionalist tradition in economics: Thorstein Veblen, Richard Theodore Ely, John Rogers Commons, Robert Franklin Hoxie, Wesley Clair Mitchell and Walton Hale Hamilton. These figures were also central to institutionalism’s numerous debates on the unifying characteristics of the movement and its principal contributions — making this collection of their most important works a convenient vehicle to assess these issues. It is also of increasing value given the fact that the main concerns of institutionalists, such as the role of institutions and development of an evolutionary approach, having been coming back into prominence as important issues in economics.

The Economy as Process of Valuation sheds new light on the potential benefits of concept and theory formation along dynamic and evolutionary lines for understanding economic processes. The emphasis is on aspects of the economy as a process of valuation rather than as a mechanistic result of transcendental forces yielding unique determinate results. The book begins by examining instrumentalism and the process of valuation, arguing that to choose involves the process of valuation. It then focuses on Coases's work on institutions and considers the implications for a variety of subjects including the theory of the firm and the theory and policy of externalities - all aspects of the economy as a process of valuation. This is followed by analyses of the concepts of coercion and cost in economics, with special reference to one agent's interest being another agent's cost. Each elicits key aspects of analysis, valuation and the complexities and conflictual nature of valuation processes and structures. Finally, Kenneth Boulding's work on 'The Image' is examined, arguing that definitions of reality and values derive, in part from language.

Presents the author's alternative monetary theory and macroeconomics to both the quality theory and Keynes's work. This text reveals Means's view of the economic processes in the real world, and the state of monetary and macroeconomics theory in the mid-1940s.

Presents the author's alternative monetary theory and macroeconomics to both the quality theory and Keynes's work. This text reveals Means's view of the economic processes in the real world, and the state of monetary and macroeconomics theory in the mid-1940s.

The history of economics comprises the accumulated capital of the discipline; its study permits both the retrieval of important ideas and the conduct of analysis which places present day work in context. The essays in this book demonstrate some of the variety of uses to which the history of economics, as a sub-discipline, can be put. Economic Thought and Discourse in the 20th Century commences with an essay on John R. Hicks, one of the leading economic theorists of the twentieth century and a writer with much to say about the nature of economic theory and the functions of the history of economic thought. An essay on Thorstein Veblen examines a figure who is at once both idiosyncratic and monumental, and whose work on war and peace is seen both to have been deeply prescient at the time it was written, and to be critically relevant at the close of the twentieth century. The third piece in this collection is a study of the discursive and interpretative structure of Alfred Marshall's Principles of Economics. More than a century after its publication, the Principles is widely regarded as one of the most important, and immediately influential, works of economic science ever written. Yet, it is argued, Marshall's use of language and argument may well have been equal in importance to the analytical techniques which he demonstrated. The concluding essay on the early journal history of law and economics places in perspective much of the contemporary work in this area and suggests that more could be expected from a field with such a rich and suggestive history. These essays will make significant contributions both to their respective subjects and to the historiography of economics.

This book is a collection of articles on schools, individuals and topics within the mainstream of the history of economic thought. The principal schools are the Physiocrats and the English Classical Economists. The principal individuals are Francois Quesnay, Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, Francis Y. Edgeworth, Friedrich von Wieser, Frank W. Taussig, and William H. Hutt. The principal topics include the economic role of government, power, the psychology of economics, and the early history of macroeconomics.

An essential addition to any economics library, these five volumes present the contributions and writings of an influential and prolific scholar.

An essential addition to any economics library, these five volumes present the contributions and writings of an influential and prolific scholar.

An essential addition to any economics library, these five volumes present the contributions and writings of an influential and prolific scholar.

A collection of articles on topics and individuals within the history of heterodox economic thought, approached from a heterodox perspective. The individuals whose work is singled out include Edward Bellamy, Thorstein Veblen, Edwin E. Witte, Robert Lee Hale and Joan Robinson.

Contains a collection of articles on economics as a system of discourse and on certain epistemological problems of economics. The treatment of both topics centres on the role of often implicit assumptions as to whose interests count in reaching conclusions especially as to policy.

Contains a collection of articles applying fundamental concepts of power, property, regulation and the compensation principle to contemporary topics: the wealth maximization hypothesis, the Coase theorem, public utility regulation, and other topics in law and economics.

This book is a collection of articles on schools, individuals and topics within the mainstream of the history of economic thought. The principal schools are the Physiocrats and the English Classical Economists. The principal individuals are Francois Quesnay, Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, Francis Y. Edgeworth, Friedrich von Wieser, Frank W. Taussig, and William H. Hutt. The principal topics include the economic role of government, power, the psychology of economics, and the early history of macroeconomics.

This collection brings together articles written by Gardiner C. Means, a leading institutionalist and post-Keynesian economist. Means studies the modern corporation and its implications for the institution on private property and the economic systems as a whole. The selections illuminate Means' analysis of the corporate revolution, the role of administered pricing and the consequences for macro-economic instability in the American economy. The book includes the controversial theoretical chapters for his proposed Harvard dissertation, his essay on industrial prices and their inflexibility, the causes of depression, administered prices and the risk of inflation, his analysis of stagflation and the control of inflation. An essay by his widow, Caroline F. Ware, examines the resistance of the American economics profession to Means' theory of administered prices.

This volume provides an interesting evaluation of the role of the corporation in American society. The book traces the historical role of the corporation. It discusses the corporation's obligations and influence in the policy-making process of government. Business Library NewsletterThe year 1986 marked the 100th anniversary of one of the Supreme Court's most important decisions, in which it unanimously held that a business corporation was a person within the meaning of the Constitution, and thus entitled to constitutional protection. The decision, made almost casually, has had enormous impact on the development of the system of corporate capitalism in the United States. This collection of original essays, written by leading authorities from the fields of economics, law, history and political science, assesses the implications of the Supreme Court ruling from a variety of perspectives. The collected essays provide a thorough evaluation of the role of the corporation, and discusses its obligations, its influence in the policymaking process of government, and its internal structure as a political order.