Originally published in 1987 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Marshall Plan, this fascinating collection of essays, from an eminent 'insider' to the Marshall Plan, combines economics, politics and history to provide authoritative and personal insights into the creation of one of the greatest foreign aid programmes of the twentieth century.

Any reader interested in the Marshall Plan itself, the inner workings of a major act of US foreign policy, and its many economic, political and historical facets will welcome the reissue of this valuable book from one of America's most distinguished economists.

In this title, first published in 1978, Sir Arthur Lewis considers the development of the international economy in the forty years leading up to the First World War, with the adoption of the gold standard, a rapid growth in world trade, the opening up of the continents by the railways, vast emigration from Europe, India and China, and large-scale international investment.

The book contrasts the relationship between prices, industrial fluctuations, agricultural output, and the stock of monetary gold, considering both the varying patterns of leading economies and then their net combined effect on the rest of the world. This is history which illuminates the contemporary economic climate in which it was written but also casts light upon our current economic crisis.

This book provides the first comprehensive and accessible account of the evolution of exchange rate regimes in the twentieth century. It presents a chronological, non-technical history and in doing so manages to link the past with the present to shed new light on the merits of different exchange rate systems.Since the golden age before the First World War, the international monetary system has experienced several changes in exchange rate regimes, alternating between fixed and floating rate systems interspersed with managed or dirty floats. The authors examine and assess the evolution of exchange rate regimes since the First World War to the present day. They discuss the forces that have brought about change in order to determine how different regimes affected the economic environment. They consider the merits or otherwise of the respective regimes and assess the evidence and arguments for and against fixed and floating exchange rate systems. Exchange Rate Regimes in the Twentieth Century provides a coherent and manageable analysis of a complex subject. It will prove invaluable to both undergraduates and postgraduates studying economic history, international economics and international studies.

The American System was implemented by the US government after the American-British War of 1812 to develop a national domestic market. This study explores the rise and fall of the system between its inception in 1790 and the Panic of 1837.

This is the first study to systematically explore similarities, differences, and connections between the histories of American planters and Irish landlords. The book focuses primarily on the comparative and transnational investigation of an antebellum Mississippi planter named John A. Quitman (1799-1858) and a nineteenth-century Irish landlord named Robert Dillon, Lord Clonbrock (1807-93), examining their economic behaviors, ideologies, labor relations, and political histories. Locating Quitman and Clonbrock firmly within their wider local, national, and international contexts, American Planters and Irish Landlords in Comparative and Transnational Perspective argues that the two men were representative of specific but comparable manifestations of agrarian modernity, paternalism, and conservatism that became common among the landed elites who dominated economy, society, and politics in the antebellum American South and in nineteenth-century Ireland. It also demonstrates that American planters and Irish landlords were connected by myriad direct and indirect transnational links between their societies, including transatlantic intellectual cultures, mutual participation in global capitalism, and the mass migration of people from Ireland to the United States that occurred during the nineteenth century.

Keynes asked whether his ?visionary? ideas would overcome the interests opposed to change. However, an examination of the histories of monetary and fiscal policies suggests that this is a false distinction. The interests and ideas associated with government policies are seldom opposed. The suspicion that the latter more often follows than confronts the former is supported by the experiences documented in this book.

Professor Wood's new title examines the controlling influences that drive macroeconomic policies in the United States. The book addresses the history of the interests, ideas, and practices of monetary and fiscal policies in the U.S., although it also examines macro-policies in other countries, particularly the UK. Professor Wood argues that economic policies in the United States have been relatively predictable and stable historically, through a detailed examination of conflicts over taxes and monetary policy such as the whiskey rebellion, Magna Carta, the Stamp Act, the Banks of the U.S., and the Federal Reserve. Issues covered also include property, economists? theories of stabilization, taxes, deficits, and monetary policy.

Here is a bold history of economics - the dramatic story of how the great economic thinkers built today's rigorous social science. Noted financial writer and economist Mark Skousen has revised and updated this popular work to provide more material on Adam Smith and Karl Marx, and expanded coverage of Joseph Stiglitz, 'imperfect' markets, and behavioral economics.This comprehensive, yet accessible introduction to the major economic philosophers of the past 225 years begins with Adam Smith and continues through the present day. The text examines the contributions made by each individual to our understanding of the role of the economist, the science of economics, and economic theory. To make the work more engaging, boxes in each chapter highlight little-known - and often amusing - facts about the economists' personal lives that affected their work.

This book presents the sharp regional diff erences within the integrating European continent. Four regions - Northwestern Europe, Southern Europe, Central Europe, and Eastern-Southeastern Europe - represent high, medium, and relatively less-developed levels of economic advancement. These disparities have emerged as a result of historical diff erences that produced and reinforced cultural and behavioral diff erences. The author examines the distinctions between the regions, looks at how these differences transpired and became so retrenched, and answers the question of why some countries were able to elevate to higher levels of economic development while others could not. This book is unique in that it provides a timely historical analysis of the main causes of the most pressing conflicts in Europe today. Readers will come away from this book with a deeper understanding of the sharp divergence in economic standing between the four different regions of Europe, as well as knowledge about how institutional corruption and other cultural features exacerbated these variations. The book also offers a better understanding of major European Union confl icts between member countries and between member and nonmember countries, as well as the rise of autocratic regimes in certain countries. The book begins with a short history of European integration throughout European civilization and then goes on to discuss the modern reality of integration and attempts to homogenize the Continent that divided into four different macro-regions. It will primarily appeal to scholars, researchers and students studying Europe from various fi elds, including economics, business, history, political science, and sociology, as well as a general readership interested in Europe's past, present, and future.

Modern theory has greatly influenced our reading of the history of economics. This third volume of Negishi's essays gathers together some of his most significant contributions to this subject, drawing as much from seminal works as from material now rarely obtainable. These essays reconsider economic thought in the light of modern theory, from Smith to Marx, and from Marshall to Keynes. Takashi Negishi discusses contributions made both in classical school and marginal revolution literature which are still significant to modern economic theory, and those heralding from Japan which have lacked exposure in the West. This volume will appeal not only to scholars in the history of economic thought, but more generally will interest those economists who are unsatisfied with the current state of economics.

As the first biography of Professor Herman Daly, this book provides an in-depth account of one of the leading thinkers and most widely read writers on economics, environment and sustainability. Herman Daly's economics for a full world, based on his steady-state economics, has been widely acknowledged through numerous prestigious international awards and prizes. Drawing on extensive interviews with Daly and in-depth analysis of his publications and debates, Peter Victor presents a unique insight into Daly's life from childhood to the present day, describing his intellectual development, inspirations and influence. Much of the book is devoted to a comprehensive account of Daly's foundational contributions to ecological economics. It describes how his insights and proposals have been received by economists and non-economists and the extraordinary relevance of Daly's full world economics to solving the economic problems of today and tomorrow. Innovative and timely, this book will be of great interest to students, scholars, researchers, activists and policy makers concerned with economics, environment and sustainability.

Economic theory reached its highest level of analytical power and depth in the middle of the nineteenth century among John Stuart Mill and his contemporaries. This book explains classical economics when it was at its height, followed by an analysis of what took place as a result of the ensuing Marginal and Keynesian Revolutions that have left economists less able to understand how economies operate. Chapters explore the false mythology that has obscured the arguments of classical economists, clouding to the point of near invisibility the theories they had developed. Steven Kates offers a thorough understanding of the operation of an economy within a classical framework, providing a new perspective for viewing modern economic theory from the outside. This provocative book not only explains the meaning of Say's Law in an accessible way, but also the origins of the Keynesian revolution and Keynes's pathway in writing The General Theory. It provides a new look at the classical theory of value at its height that was not based, as so many now wrongly believe, on the labour theory of value. A crucial read for economic policy-makers seeking to understand the operation of a market economy, this book should also be of keen interest to economists generally as well as scholars in the history of economic thought.

Japanese Economic Development presents three distinct approaches to understanding how and why Japan made the transition from a relatively low-income country mainly focused on agriculture to a high-income nation centered on manufacturing and services.

In offering an eclectic account of Japan's economic development, this book appeals to students in a broad group of disciplines including economics, political science, sociology, geography and history.

The book makes a case for 'over determination' in economic behavior. Because individual, firm level, and governmental behavior is simultaneously determined by the interaction of markets, norms, and structures, change over time is rarely if ever limited to the economy operating in isolation from social norms and structures.

This new edition of An Economic History of Early Modern India extends the timespan of the analysis to incorporate further research. This allows for a more detailed discussion of the rise of the British Empire in South Asia and gives a fuller context for the historiography. In the years between the death of the emperor Aurangzeb (1707) and the Great Rebellion (1857), the Mughal Empire and the states that rose from its ashes declined in wealth and power, and a British Empire emerged in South Asia. This book asks three key questions about the transition. Why did it happen? What did it mean? How did it shape economic change? The book shows that during these years, a merchant-friendly regime among warlord-ruled states emerged and state structure transformed to allow taxes and military capacity to be held by one central power, the British East India Company. The author demonstrates that the fall of warlord-ruled states and the empowerment of the merchant, in consequence, shaped the course of Indian and world economic history. Reconstructing South Asia's transition, starting with the Mughal Empire's collapse and ending with the great rebellion of 1857, this book is the first systematic account of the economic history of early modern India. It is an essential reference for students and scholars of Economics and South Asian History.

The documents in this volume reflect the great debates that have shaped this country's economic life. Covering a wide variety of problems, they show how each was treated at a moment when it was politically urgent. Since they were efforts at persuasion, usually addressed to a wide audience, they are coherent and self-contained and avoid technical jargon. They therefore present clear and vivid evidence of what men have desired and hoped to achieve, and explain not only much that is critical about how Americans lived in the past but much also about the inheritance of the present.

From the overwhelming mass of available documents, a representative group has been chosen here. Among the twenty-nine included are: Hamilton's "Report on Manufactures," which helped set the American attitude on economic growth; Andrew Jackson's veto message on the bill to renew the charter of the Bank of the United States; the first annual report of the Interstate Commerce Commission, which put the railroads under federal regulation; William Jennings Bryan's famous Cross of Gold speech, which helped him win the Democratic nomination in 1896; the conclusions of the Pujo Committee's report on the money market, which were instrumental in setting up the Federal Reserve System; and key documents on the National Recovery Administration, one of Franklin D. Roosevelt's major moves in his fight against the depression.

In his introductory essay, the editor summarizes the forces and movements that helped to make American economic policy "exceedingly confused and therefore very annoying to historians and economists," But, he insists, this very confusion reduced "the extremism and disorder potentially so great in the United States . . . to remarkable moderation."

"William Letwin" is professor emeritus at the London School of Economics. He has published many articles and reviews in learned and popular journals. He took his undergraduate work at the University of Chicago and did graduate work there and at the London School of Economics. After receiving the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the Committee on Social Thought of the University of Chicago, he stayed on at the university as Research Associate in the Law School and Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Economics.

As the Great Depression dragged on without a recovery, Americans were avid for anything that would help them to understand its causes and possible solutions. During this period, orthodox economists were largely discredited, both in the White House and among the public. Three of the most popular and influential figures of the period--Edward A. Rumely, Stuart Chase, and David Cushman Coyle--were not trained in economics. In Peddling Panaceas, Gary Dean Best analyzes their remedies for the Depression, their proposals for permanent economic reform, and their influence.Each of these men represented a principal economic faction within the New Deal. The inflationists within the New Deal found support from the Committee for the Nation, which was largely the creation of Edward Rumely. Rumely's committee was influential in the early New Deal, but largely passed into eclipse by early 1934. The planners within the New Deal were represented in popular magazines and books by Stuart Chase, who was an engineer and accountant before he began to expound on economics. An early advocate of collectivism, Chase's influence waned after the Supreme Court invalidated two early successes, the NRA and the AAA. David Cushman Coyle, a structural engineer who, like many engineers during the Depression, fancied himself an economist, may be taken as the voice of the followers of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis within the New Deal. Always influential, they became more prominent after the invalidation of the NRA in 1935. These three popular economists not only influenced policy but also educated the American public about the Depression. Scarcely a month went by without an essay by Chase or Coyle in the popular magazines of the decade, and both were also prolific authors of books and pamphlets. Their views and influence help us understand the economic and political climate of the 1930s. Peddling Panaceas will be of interest to economists, cultural historians, political scientists, and sociologists.

Russell provides a groundbreaking critique of the orthodox position on the nature of New Deal reforms as well as an innovative analysis of the unraveling of those reforms. Russell argues that the success of the New Deal banking reforms in the post-war period initially produced a "pax financus" in which the competitive struggles amongst financial capital were moderated. However, the success of these reforms also produced incentives to undermine the New Deal regulatory framework via a regeneration of competitive struggles among financial capitalists. As these struggles intensified, financial innovations designed to circumvent regulatory restrictions changed the conduct of commercial banking and other financial capitalist activity. As these developments progressed, there has been a resurgence in the diversified financial conglomerates (financial holding companies) reminiscent of those that flourished just prior to the Great Depression. This exceptional work will appeal to historians, economists, and those interested in this vital period of American history.

Takeshi Hamashita, arguably Asia's premier historian of the longue duree, has been instrumental in opening a new field of inquiry in Chinese, East Asian and world historical research. Engaging modernization, Marxist and world system approaches, his wide-ranging redefinition of the evolving relationships between the East Asia regional system and the world economy from the sixteenth century to the present has sent ripples throughout Asian and international scholarship. His research has led him to reconceptualize the position of China first in the context of an East Asian regional order and subsequently within the framework of a wider Euro-American-Asian trade and financial order that was long gestating within, and indeed contributing to the shape of, the world market. This book presents a selection of essays from Takeshi Hamashita's oeuvre on Asian trade to introduce this important historian's work to the English speaking reader. It examines the many critical issues surrounding China and East Asia's incorporation to the world economy, including: Maritime perspectives on China, Asia and the world economy Intra-Asian trade Chinese state finance and the tributary trade system Banking and finance Maritime customs.

This is a collection of previously published essays from Heinz D. Kurz and Neri Salvadori, prviding modern interpretations of the classical economists and comparing their analyses with that of contemporary mainstream economics.

How are economists and historians to explain what happened in history? What statistical inferences can be drawn from historical data? The authors believe that explanation in history can be identified with the problems of prediction in a probabilistic universe. Using this approach, the historian can act upon his "a priori" information and his judgment of what is unique and particular in each past event, even with data hitherto considered to be intractable for statistical treatment. In essence, the book is an argument for and a demonstration of the point of view that the restricted approach of "measurement without theory" is not necessary in history, or at least not necessary in economic history.

After two chapters of theoretical introduction, the authors explore the meanings and implications of evidence, explanation and proof in history by applying econometric methods to the analysis of three major problems in 19th century economic history--the profitability of slavery in the antebellum South, income growth and development in the United States during the 1800's, and The Great Depression in the British economy; also included is a postscript on growth reassessing some current arguments in the light of the findings of these papers.

The book presents an original and provocative approach to historical problems that have long plagued economists and historians and provides the reader with a new approach to these and similar questions.

"Alfred H. Conrad" is professor of business administration at Harvard University. Much of Conrad's work has appeared in professional journals.

"John R. Meyer" is James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Economic Growth emeritus at Harvard University. Meyer's books include "The Investment Decision" and "Economics of Competition in the Transportation Industry." He has served as a board member and economic advisor for various businesses.

Classical political economy rests on the assumption that the market and the family are overlapping and mutually dependent realms, dominated in turn by economic men and domestic women. Brian Cooper explores the role of economic theory in 'normalizing' the family in the first half of the nineteenth century. Drawing on a wide range of sources - novels, books on etiquette and statistical sources, as well as works of economics - the book examines the impacts of these different forms on contemporary debate.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203441850

The long paper which gives the title to this collection and which has never before been published as paperback was initially an attempt to promote international academic understanding. The Economics Department at the London School of Economics had arranged a colloquy between two groups of Russian and British economists; and where the author asked to contribute a general survey of the present state of economic theory as taught in Western centers. For reasons, which are explained in the opening section, the author decided to adopt an historical approach; and the notes on which the present paper is based were the result.

The remainders of the papers have as their common denominator a continuing interest in the history of economic thought. Beginning with a lengthy critique of Schumpeter's magisterial "History of Economic Analysis," they range from an appraisal of Bentham's continuing relevance to a review of Robertson's "Lectures on Economic Principles," with some special attention to John Stuart Mill both as a human being and as an economist. They have been written at various times in the last thirty-five years; and minute scrutiny, if such were thought to be worthwhile--which of course it is not--might detect some variations of emphasis, particularly perhaps in the implicit valuations of Marshall and his contribution, in the papers on Wicksteed and "Schumpeter's History" respectively. But in spite of a certain shift of perspective here, the author thought it worthwhile to attempt substantial redrafting.

Apart from the correction of obvious inelegances or actual errors, the excision of some duplicating quotations and, in a few cases, the addition of supplementary material and references, the papers are reproduced as originally written. In each instance the author has given footnote acknowledgements of the place of original publication.

"Lionel Robbins" (1898-1984) was the first chancellor of the University of Stirling and chairman of the Court of Government of the London School of Economics. He was formerly professor of economics at the London School of Economics, chairman of the Committee on Higher Education, and president of the British Academy. He has written many books and articles.

Usual interpretations of the Depression stress the disruption in Europe caused by the Versailles Settlement, and the downswing in the United States centred on the Wall Street Crash. This book, however, suggests that the situation in Asia was as important as the situation in Europe or the USA. The book examines the economic experience of Asia and Africa from 1914 to 1939 and looks at the influence of the developed world upon these two continents, showing how events there affected the entire international economy. In particular it suggests that the economic progress of the 1920s caused the depression by creating overproduction of foodstuffs and raw materials. The communications improvements of these years are examined in detail, and the complex problems of the monetary systems of the developing countries are outlined together with the flow of capital to these areas, and its reversal in the 1930s. In the discussion on trade, the disappearance of Britain's surplus with these countries is stressed, as it weakened her international trading balance and contributed to the collapse of the Sterling in 1931. First published in 1981, the book concludes that the overproduction of rice coupled with overproduction of wheat, forced down prices, thus causing the international agricultural depression. In turn, farm incomes fell and demand for industrial goods was destroyed across the world.

Most scholars agree that during the sixteenth century, the centre of European international trade shifted from Antwerp to Amsterdam, presaging the economic rise of the Dutch Republic in the following century. Traditionally this shift has been accepted as the natural consequence of a dynamic and progressive city, such as Amsterdam, taking advantage of expanding commercial opportunities at the expense of a more conservative rival hampered by outmoded medieval practices. Yet, whilst this theory is widely accepted, is it accurate? In this groundbreaking study, Cle Lesger argues that the shift of commercial power from Antwerp to Amsterdam was by no means inevitable, and that the highly specialized economy of the Low Countries was more than capable of adapting to the changing needs of international trade. It was only when the Dutch Revolt and military campaigns literally divided the Low Countries into separate states that the existing stable spatial economy and port system fell apart, and a restructuring was needed. Within this process of restructuring the port of Amsterdam acquired a function radically different to the one it had prior to the division of the Netherlands. Before the Revolt it had served as the northern outport in a gateway system centred on Antwerp, but with access of that port now denied to the new republic, Amsterdam developed as the main centre for Dutch shipping, trade and - crucially - the exchange of information. Drawing on a wide variety of neglected archival collections (including those of the Bank of Amsterdam), this study not only addresses specific historical questions concerning the commercial life of the Low Countries, but through the case study of Amsterdam, also explores wider issues of early modern European commercial trade and economic development.

This is a wonderful book to read that analyzes an idiosyncratic and polymath economist that hardly left his audiences or his readers indifferent. Those who knew Mark Blaug will recognize the man, the intellectual, the economist, and the historian of ideas in the chapters included in the volume. Those that never had the privilege to meet him will have the opportunity to understand why he became such a significant figure in economics over much of the second half of the twentieth century.' - Pedro Teixeira, University of Porto, Portugal'Mark Blaug was a nonpareil - a fine economist, an extraordinary scholar, an indefatigable editor, a generous colleague, a fierce debater. His passing was a sad loss for economics and for the history of economics. This volume, a kind of Mark Blaug in Retrospect, is a fitting memorial that, at once, captures his many parts and the wide range and depth of his thought.' - Kevin D. Hoover, Duke University, US and Editor of the History of Political Economy 'Mark Blaug was a short man with a great soul: he was a thinking person's economist with an uncanny ability to capture the big picture(s) in a few precise words. His zest for living expressed itself, in part, in his love of argument and the lifelong intellectual (and sometimes personal) mentoring of his interlocutors. The chapters in this volume, written by many of his former students and intellectual peers, lovingly and critically recall the man s life and his ideas. Jointly they introduce his wide-ranging views and interests to new generations of readers. They have the capacity to startle those of us who think we know.' - Eric Schliesser, Ghent University, Belgium 'Mark Blaug had an exceptional knowledge of the history of economics and a critical interest in the assumptions and judgements (often implicit) that underlie the work of economists past and present. The contributors to this volume illustrate the influence of Mark and his ideas, demonstrating their continuing relevance to all who recognise the powerful influence on the substantive content of economics of the methods by which it is developed and appraised.' - Brian Loasby, Stirling University, UK This book celebrates the immense contributions of Mark Blaug to every aspect of economics, a discipline in which his influence and relevance still resonate today, particularly in the field of the economics of education. This collection of eminent contributions discusses the ideas and works of Mark Blaug, who has made important and often pioneering contributions to economic history, economic methodology, the economics of education, development economics, cultural economics, economic theory and the history of economic thought. Besides these assessments of Blaug's influence and impact in these fields, this volume also contains a selection of personal portraits which depict him as a colleague, a friend and an opponent. Blaug was also a voracious reader and prolific writer, which is clearly evidenced by the comprehensive bibliography. A thought-provoking and stimulating collection of essays and dedications to Mark Blaug, this book will appeal to anyone interested in the history, culture and philosophy of economics. Contributors: R.E. Backhouse, M. Boumans, B. Caldwell, J.B. Davis, E. Dekker, V. Ginsburgh, C. Handke, D.W. Hands, G.M. Hodgson, M. Klaes, D. Laidler, R.G. Lipsey, H. Maas, J. Maloney, T. Mayer, A. Peacock, A. Salanti, R. Towse, J. Vromen