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Support-Bargaining, Economics and Society links support-bargaining
to Darwin's theory of natural selection and traces the implications
of support-bargaining and money-bargaining across society. It
provides a wholly different account of the functioning of human
societies from anything that has gone before. Social scientists,
ever since there have been such people, have missed the crucial
human characteristic - the propensity to seek support - that has
given rise to group formation and the myriad activities that are
feasible in groups.
For many decades economists have disputed with economic
anthropologists over the origins of money. Economists claim that
money emerged from barter exchange; anthropologists claim that it
originated as a 'unit of account' in the temples and palaces of
ancient Mesopotamia. This book argues that money originated as a
bargaining counter in a system of money-bargaining, emerging almost
seamlessly from barter-bargaining. This is not the 'money' of
mainstream economic conception - a 'veil' cast over a system of
resource allocation defined in mathematical terms. Confidence in
the bargaining counter is sustained through 'support-bargaining,' a
process in which individuals seek the support of their associates
but seek at the same time to advance their own interests. A
comprehensive 'Introduction to Support-Bargaining and
Money-Bargaining' is provided by the work. The arrival of
coin-money is recognised by many as a crucial event in the history
of mankind, and it is argued here that the distinctive character of
support-bargaining in ancient Greek city states made possible the
introduction of coin-money. The dependence of coin-money on a
particular form of support-bargaining also suggests the reason why
coin-money was not introduced much earlier, given that the
technology for producing coins was available long before their
adoption. This book will be of great interest to researchers in the
history and origins of money, banking and economic theory more
broadly.
It is clear even to casual observation that economies evolve from
year to year and over centuries. Yet mainstream economic theory
assumes that economies always move towards equilibrium. One
consequence of this is that mainstream theory is unable to deal
with economic history. The Evolution of Economies provides a clear
account of how economies evolve under a process of
support-bargaining and money-bargaining. Both support-bargaining
and money-bargaining are situation-related - people determine their
interests and actions by reference to their present circumstances.
This gives the bargaining system a natural evolutionary dynamic.
Societies evolve from situation to situation. Historical change
follows this evolutionary course. A central chapter of the book
applies the new theory in a re-evaluation of the industrial
revolution in Britain, showing how specialist money-bargaining
agencies, in the form of companies, evolved profitable formats and
displaced landowners as the leading sources of employment and
economic necessities. Companies took advantage of the evolution of
technology to establish effective formats. The book also seeks to
establish how it came about that a 'mainstream' theory was
developed that is so wildly at odds with the observable features of
economic history and economic exchange. Theory-making is described
as a process of 'intellectual support-bargaining' in which theory
is shaped to the interests of its makers. The work of major
classical and neoclassical economists is contested as incompatible
with the idea of an evolving money-bargaining system. The book
reviews attempts to derive an evolutionary economic theory from
Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Neoclassical
economic theory has had enormous influence on the governance of
societies, principally through its theoretical endorsement of the
benefits of 'free markets'. An evolutionary account of economic
processes should change the basis of debate. The theory presented
here will be of interest immediately to all economists, whether
evolutionary, heterodox or neoclassical. It will facilitate the
work of economic historians, who complain that current theory gives
no guidance for their historical investigations. Beyond the
confines of professional theory-making, many will find it a
revelatory response to questions that have hitherto gone
unanswered.
Economics for an Information Age examines the central role of
information within economics and society. The neoclassical economic
model, taught as ‘mainstream economics’ in universities around
the world, relies on a mathematical model of ‘resource
allocation’ in which private advantage gives rise to public
advantage in the shape of an optimal allocation of resources.
However, this model assumes ‘perfect information’. In the
present ‘information age’ such an assumption is even farther
from the reality than it was in the past. People disseminate and
manipulate information to further their interests. This book
explains economic behaviour in terms of a theory of
‘money-bargaining’ and political and intellectual
‘support-bargaining’, in which the dissemination of information
plays a central role. It uses this lens to explain how information
is created, manipulated, disseminated, organised, understood,
interpreted, used, bought and sold. This book will be of interest
to mainstream and heterodox economists alike, as well as historians
of economic thought, and anyone who seeks to better understand the
impact of the information age on economic behaviour.
Economics for an Information Age examines the central role of
information within economics and society. The neoclassical economic
model, taught as 'mainstream economics' in universities around the
world, relies on a mathematical model of 'resource allocation' in
which private advantage gives rise to public advantage in the shape
of an optimal allocation of resources. However, this model assumes
'perfect information'. In the present 'information age' such an
assumption is even farther from the reality than it was in the
past. People disseminate and manipulate information to further
their interests. This book explains economic behaviour in terms of
a theory of 'money-bargaining' and political and intellectual
'support-bargaining', in which the dissemination of information
plays a central role. It uses this lens to explain how information
is created, manipulated, disseminated, organised, understood,
interpreted, used, bought and sold. This book will be of interest
to mainstream and heterodox economists alike, as well as historians
of economic thought, and anyone who seeks to better understand the
impact of the information age on economic behaviour.
Support-Bargaining, Economics and Society links support-bargaining
to Darwin's theory of natural selection and traces the implications
of support-bargaining and money-bargaining across society. It
provides a wholly different account of the functioning of human
societies from anything that has gone before. Social scientists,
ever since there have been such people, have missed the crucial
human characteristic - the propensity to seek support - that has
given rise to group formation and the evolution of human society.
It is clear even to casual observation that economies evolve from
year to year and over centuries. Yet mainstream economic theory
assumes that economies always move towards equilibrium. One
consequence of this is that mainstream theory is unable to deal
with economic history. The Evolution of Economies provides a clear
account of how economies evolve under a process of
support-bargaining and money-bargaining. Both support-bargaining
and money-bargaining are situation-related - people determine their
interests and actions by reference to their present circumstances.
This gives the bargaining system a natural evolutionary dynamic.
Societies evolve from situation to situation. Historical change
follows this evolutionary course. A central chapter of the book
applies the new theory in a re-evaluation of the industrial
revolution in Britain, showing how specialist money-bargaining
agencies, in the form of companies, evolved profitable formats and
displaced landowners as the leading sources of employment and
economic necessities. Companies took advantage of the evolution of
technology to establish effective formats. The book also seeks to
establish how it came about that a 'mainstream' theory was
developed that is so wildly at odds with the observable features of
economic history and economic exchange. Theory-making is described
as a process of 'intellectual support-bargaining' in which theory
is shaped to the interests of its makers. The work of major
classical and neoclassical economists is contested as incompatible
with the idea of an evolving money-bargaining system. The book
reviews attempts to derive an evolutionary economic theory from
Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Neoclassical
economic theory has had enormous influence on the governance of
societies, principally through its theoretical endorsement of the
benefits of 'free markets'. An evolutionary account of economic
processes should change the basis of debate. The theory presented
here will be of interest immediately to all economists, whether
evolutionary, heterodox or neoclassical. It will facilitate the
work of economic historians, who complain that current theory gives
no guidance for their historical investigations. Beyond the
confines of professional theory-making, many will find it a
revelatory response to questions that have hitherto gone
unanswered.
This book provides an introduction to the theory of
support-bargaining and money-bargaining. Support-bargaining arises
from the propensity of all individuals to seek the support of those
around them and is the underlying mechanism of democratic
societies. It is also the underlying mechanism of theory formation.
Intellectual support-bargaining is the process by which support is
assembled for ideas and theories. Mainstream economic theory, or
'neoclassical theory', can be seen as formulated to advance
individual interest. It is mainstream because it has assembled
sufficient support to give it ascendancy in academia. It reconciles
private and public interest in a mathematical account of resource
allocation. Money-bargaining, in contrast, explains the process of
economic exchange. Transactions are based on information, so that
the character of information itself influences the conduct of
exchange. This volume provides a radically new explanation of the
functioning of human societies that will be recognised as entirely
consistent with common observation and experience.
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