Economics as Worldly Philosophy [Hardcover]

These essays written by students of Robert Heilbroner, develop central themes in his work - the importance of historical perspective in economics, the connection with the great questions of philosophy, and the immediacy of politics. They begin by criticizing the rational maximizing foundations of conventional theory, finding no place there for history. The essays first explore methodology, then technology in relation to history, the politics inherent in economics, and finally, turn to the great Classics, interpreted in relation to modern questions.Frontispiece - Notes on the Contributors - Introduction - History and Vision in Economics; E.J.Nell - PART 1: METHOD AND APPROACH - The Economics of Positive Methodology; S.Moss - Neoclassical Economics and Neo-Darwinism; E.Khalil - PART 2: TECHNOLOGY AND STAGES OF HISTORY - Stages of Technical Advance: Industrial Segmentation and Employment; D.Howell - PART 3: POLITICAL ECONOMICS AND POLICY - Budget Deficits and the US Macroeconomy; R.Pollin - Managed Capitalism vs the Small State; P.Clawson - The Political Economy of Growth and Distribution; R.McGahey - PART 4: THE CLASSICS: SMITH, RICARDO AND MARX - Adam Smith between Political Economy and Economics; R.Urquhart - Theory as Praxis in the Ricardian Era; R.Kanth - History, Human Nature and Justice in Marx; R.Castellana - The Commodity as 'Characteristic Form'; M.Campbell - PART 5: CONTEMPORARY THEORY IN THE LIGHT OF THE CLASSICS - Quesnay's Theory of Economic Growth and Decline; S.Pressman - Adam Smith and the New Economics of Effort; T.Michi - Classical Perspectives on Investment; C.Kurdas - Index