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The volume is divided into three parts: A: Economic Growth and
Related Problems (covering international trade and economic
integration, including a comparative study between Europe and
America) B: Theoretical Welfare Economics (welfare propositions in
economics, profit maximization and its implications and the Theory
of Tariffs) C: Practical Welfare Economics (the price of economic
progress, equity and international payments).
The union of Western Europe poses many complex and technical
obstacles. Analysing the advantages as well as the difficulties,
the book discusses competition and the nature and direction of the
increased pressures it brings to bear upon entrepreneurial
activity, through which the effects of economic union will mostly
be felt.
Dealing with general economic theory, other than employment theory,
the book discusses the theory of pure and monopolistic competition
- with a special emphasis upon welfare aspects. Beginning with an
analysis of the consumer and of the individual firm, the main
stress is nevertheless placed on the analysis of the economic
system as a whole.
This general introduction to the theory of money and of balance of
payments adjustment was originally published in 1969. It was the
first book to pay full attention to the theory of assets: the
relation of the supply of assets to the demand for holding them and
the significance of asset movements for balance of payments
adjustment. Written in simple language and with brevity, the book
is intended for the student with a general knowledge of economics
and economic institutions, but with no specialised knowledge of
these topics.
The promise of economic growth which has dominated society for so
long has reached an impasse. In his classic analysis, Fred Hirsch
argued that the causes of this were essentially social rather than
physical. Affluence brings its own problems. As societies become
richer, an increasing proportion of the extra goods and services
created are not available to everybody. Material affluence does not
make for a better society. Fred Hirsch's classic exposition of the
social limits to growth manages to connect many of the apparently
disparate factors that blight modern life: alienation at work and
deteriorating cities as well as inflation and unemployment.
Economic Theory and Reality presents Tibor Scitovsky's latest
thinking on the relationship between economic theory and economic
reality. This volume features discussion of many of the important
theoretical contributions made to economics over the last 40 years
including the Keynesian revolution and the ideas of Lerner,
Steindl, Hirsch, Frank and many others who extended and enhanced
the economist's toolbox.Professor Scitovsky's attempt to make
economic theory more realistic and thereby more useful is the
subject of the first part of the volume which includes his work on
the necessity of asymmetric markets, some market power and
righteous behaviour as conditions of a progressive and properly
functioning market economy. The second major theme is the
shortcomings of the real-world economy and, in particular, its
failure to maintain macroequilibrium, price stability and full
employment. This part includes examinations of inflexible wages and
prices, excessive claims, positional goods, and the impact of
second-hand markets on the macroeconomy. Economic Theory and
Reality improves access to Professor Scitovsky's most important
recent work, much of which was originally published either in
foreign languages or outside the mainstream literature. As well as
improving our understanding of his approach to economics and the
contributions which he has made to scholarship, this book addresses
key questions about the relevance of economic theory and its future
direction.
This general introduction to the theory of money and of balance of
payments adjustment was originally published in 1969. It was the
first book to pay full attention to the theory of assets: the
relation of the supply of assets to the demand for holding them and
the significance of asset movements for balance of payments
adjustment. Written in simple language and with brevity, the book
is intended for the student with a general knowledge of economics
and economic institutions, but with no specialised knowledge of
these topics.
The volume is divided into three parts: A: Economic Growth and
Related Problems (covering international trade and economic
integration, including a comparative study between Europe and
America) B: Theoretical Welfare Economics (welfare propositions in
economics, profit maximization and its implications and the Theory
of Tariffs) C: Practical Welfare Economics (the price of economic
progress, equity and international payments).
Dealing with general economic theory, other than employment theory,
the book discusses the theory of pure and monopolistic competition
- with a special emphasis upon welfare aspects. Beginning with an
analysis of the consumer and of the individual firm, the main
stress is nevertheless placed on the analysis of the economic
system as a whole.
The union of Western Europe poses many complex and technical
obstacles. Analysing the advantages as well as the difficulties,
the book discusses competition and the nature and direction of the
increased pressures it brings to bear upon entrepreneurial
activity, through which the effects of economic union will mostly
be felt.
The promise of economic growth which has dominated society for so
long has reached an impasse. In his classic analysis, Fred Hirsch
argued that the causes of this were essentially social rather than
physical. Affluence brings its own problems. As societies become
richer, an increasing proportion of the extra goods and services
created are not available to everybody. Material affluence does not
make for a better society.
Fred Hirsch's classic exposition of the social limits to growth
manages to connect many of the apparently disparate factors that
blight modern life: alienation at work and deteriorating cities as
well as inflation and unemployment.
Originally published in 1976, this classic work helped to establish
the legitimacy of understanding economic behaviour in psychological
terms. Its central theme was that, despite the economic abundance
that Americans enjoyed in the mid-twentieth century, they were at
heart dissatisfied with much of their lives. Mainstream economics
could not account for this kind of reaction and Scitovsky sought to
explain it in theories that combined economics with psychology.
Scitovsky has revised the last chapter and added a new chapter
dealing with some contemporary aspects. In addition, Robert Frank,
author of Choosing the Right Pond (OUP, 1985) has written a
foreword.
When this classic work was first published in 1976, its central
tenet--more is not necessarily better--placed it in direct conflict
with mainstream thought in economics. Within a few years, however,
this apparently paradoxical claim was gaining wide acceptance.
Scitovsky's ground-breaking book was the first to apply theories of
behaviorist psychology to questions of consumer behavior and to do
so in clear, non-technical language. Setting out to analyze the
failures of our consumerist lifestyle, Scitovsky concluded that
people's need for stimulation is so vital that it can lead to
violence if not satisfied by novelty--whether in challenging work,
art, fashion, gadgets, late-model cars, or scandal.
Though much of the book stands as a record of American post-war
prosperity and its accompanying problems, the revised edition also
takes into account recent social and economic changes. A new
preface and a foreword by economist Robert Frank introduce some of
the issues created by those changes and two revised chapters
develop them, discussing among others the assimilation of
counter-cultural ideas throughout American society, especially
ideas concerning quality of life. Scitovsky draws fascinating
connections between the new elite of college-educated consumers and
the emergence of a growing underclass plagued by drugs and
violence, perceptively tracing the reactions of these disparate
groups to the problems of leisure and boredom.
In the wake of the so-called "decade of greed" and amidst calls
for a "kindler, gentler" society, The Joyless Economy seems more
timely than ever.
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