The increasing liberalization and globalization of the world economy has not been accompanied by convergence in the various indicators of economic and social development. The papers in this volume go some way towards explaining why the increasing reliance on market forces may lead to greater divergences in economic performance. They also point to the importance for the development process of social solidarity and institutions which encourage co-operative approaches to problem solving.

The contributors to this volume bring a variety of experience, background and interest to bear on this issue and considerable attention is given to the design of appropriate structural adjustment programmes as well as the role of debt reduction, food aid and the European Community in this context. Other important issues discussed include: the link between dependent development and enviornmental degredation, the woodfuel crisis, the political economy of rural development, the transfer of institutional innovations; the role of women's organizations in development and foreign direct investment by newly industrialized countries. An important overall theme which emerges from this book is that there is a need for an adaptive evolutionary approach to problems of development.

Featuring original contributions from some of the leading contemporary figures in the history of economic thought, this book offers new perspectives on key topics, from Smith's Wealth of Nations to the Jevonian Revolution. Drawing inspiration from the life and work of R.D.C. Black, formerly Professor of Economics at Queen's University Belfast, this book will be of essential interest to any serious scholar of economic thought.

For a country that can boast a distinguished tradition of political economy from Sir William Petty through Swift, Berkeley, Hutcheson, Burke and Cantillon through to that of Longfield, Cairnes, Bastable, Edgeworth, Geary and Gorman, it is surprising that no systematic study of Irish political economy has been undertaken.

In this book the contributors redress this glaring omission in the history of political economy, for the first time providing an overview of developments in Irish political economy from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. Logistically this is achieved through the provision of individual contributions from a group of recognized experts, both Irish and international, who address the contribution of major historical figures in Irish political economy along the analysis of major thematic issues, schools of thought and major policy debates within the Irish context over this extended period.

For a country that can boast a distinguished tradition of political economy from Sir William Petty through Swift, Berkeley, Hutcheson, Burke and Cantillon through to that of Longfield, Cairnes, Bastable, Edgeworth, Geary and Gorman, it is surprising that no systematic study of Irish political economy has been undertaken.

In this book the contributors redress this glaring omission in the history of political economy, for the first time providing an overview of developments in Irish political economy from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. Logistically this is achieved through the provision of individual contributions from a group of recognized experts, both Irish and international, who address the contribution of major historical figures in Irish political economy along the analysis of major thematic issues, schools of thought and major policy debates within the Irish context over this extended period.

Contents:
Introduction Antoin E. Murphy and Renee Prendergast
Part I. R.D.C. Black - Historian of Economic Thought
1. Interview with R.D.C. Black
2. R.D.C. Black: an historiographical and methodological analysis A.W. Coats
Part II. History of Economic Thought as an Intellectual Discipline
3. History of economic thought as an intellectual discipline D.P. O'Brien
4. Reflections on the history of economic thought or 'a trip down memory lane' Bernard Corry
Part III. Perspectives on Adam Smith
5. 'A very amusing book about old times' Donald Winch
6. Adam Smith: an historical perspective on the wealth of nations Andrew S. Skinner
7. 'The Wealth of Nations' censored: early translations in Spain Pedro Schwartz
Part IV. Jevons, Gossens and Shadwell
8. The Jevonian revolution re-appraised Margaret Schabas
9. Jevons and Gossen John K. Whitaker
10. John Emilius Lancelot Shadwell on value and wages Ian Steedman
Part V. Into the Archives
11. Brotherhood at arms: the Cairnes - Leslie controversy Tadhg Foley and Tom Boylan
12. The famine, The New York Irish and their bank Cormac Ó Grada
Part VI. Abstraction and Relativity
13. The political economy of Edmund Burke Renee Prendergast
14. Menger's organic view of institutions Charles Hickson
15. Canons of monetary orthodoxy and John Law Antoin E Murphy

The increasing liberalization and globalisation of the world economy has not been accompanied by covergence in the various indicators of economic and social development. The papers in this volume go some way towards explaining why the increasing reliance on market forces may lead to greater divergences in economic performance. They also point to the importance for the development process of social solidarity and institutions which encourage co-operative approaches to problem solving.

The most pressing problem for most developing countries is how to reverse the adverse trends of the 1980s and create the conditions for sustainable development. The contributors to this volume bring a great variety of experience, background and interest to bear on this issue. Considerable attention is given to the design of appropriate structural adjustment programmes and the role of debt reduction, food aid and the European Community in this context. The need for an adaptive evolutionary approach to problems of development is, perhaps, the central theme to the volume.