Since the 1980s there has been a renewed interest in attempts to introduce a sense of history into economic literature. In this book, the authors argue that it is not possible to explain a state of the world without first analysing the processes that lead to that state. The contributions collected in this volume share a critical stance towards the timelessness and a historical theorizing of mainstream economics. Past states in the development of an economic process set the range of possibilities for future development and can be used to construct theories based on the irreversibility of economic time. Many of these notable contributors argue that the study of the history of economic thought is important in two ways. Firstly, because it provides important insights into the ways that economists of the past attempted to address the problems of history and secondly, because it helps us to understand the present state of economics as being itself the outcome of a path dependent process. Evolutionary economists, economic theorists and historians, as well as economists interested in the evolution of economic and other social institutions, will find this challenging collection of papers essential reading.

Contents:
Jack Birner Introduction Part 1: Digitally Connected Networks 1. Don Lavoie Subjectivism, Entrepreneurship and the Convergence of Groupware and Hypertext 2. Giampaolo Garzarelli Open Source Software and the Economics of Organization 3. Mark Miller and Marc Stiegler The Digital Path Part 2: Some History 4. Don Lavoie, Howard Baetjer and Bill Tulloh with comments by Marc Stiegler and Pietro Terna High-tech Hayekians 5. Elise Tosi and Dominique Torre The New Economy as a Co-ordinating Device: Some Mengerian Foundations Part 3: The Organization of the Firm 6. Nicolai Foss Austrian Determinants of Economic Organization in the Knowledge Economy 7. Philippe Dulbecco and Pierre Garrouste The New Economy and the Austrian Theory of Firm 8. Guido Fioretti The Small World of Business Relationships Part 4: Markets and Market Failure 9. Richard Aréna and Agnès Festré Some Specific Austrian Insights on Markets and the New Economy 10. Mark Steckbeck and Pete Boettke Turning Lemons into Lemonade: Entrepreneurial Solutions to Adverse Selection Problems in E-Commerce 11. Roger Koppl and Ivo Sarjanovic Big Players in the New Economy Part 5: The Monetary Sector in the Internet 12. Antony Mueller Bubble or New Era? Monetary Aspects of the New Economy 13. Jean-Pierre Centi and Gilbert Bougi Possible Economic Conseuqneces of Electronic Money Part 6: The Legal Framework 14. Elizabeth Krecké The Emergence of Private Lawmaking on the Internet: Implications for the Economic Analysis of Law

Whilst some of Hayek's contributions to economics are purely analytical, others are inspired by a broader vision that could be characterized as political economy. In this authorative volume, some of the world's leading Hayek scholars examine the link between these two essential components of Hayek's thought, and consider them against a wider background of thought in the Austrian tradition.

Whilst some of Hayek's contributions to economics are purely analytical, others are inspired by a broader vision that could be characterised as political economy. In this volume, some of the world's leading Hayek scholars examine the link between these two essential components of Hayek's thought, and consider them against a wider background of thought in the Austrian tradition.