|
Introduction to Political Economy 5th edition |  | Authors: Charles Sackrey, Geoffrey Schneider, Janet Knoedler
Publisher: Dollars & Sense
Category: Book
List Price: $34.95
Buy Used: $12.00
as of 7/30/2010 09:00 MDT details
You Save: $22.95 (66%)
New (6) Used (61) from $12.00
Seller: oneplanetbooks
Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 228580
Media: Paperback
Edition: 5th
Pages: 294
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 0.8
ISBN: 187858572X
EAN: 9781878585721
ASIN: 187858572X
Publication Date: September 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Few economics programs today offer students the opportunity to study the history of economic thought or the philosophical foundations of diverse schools of economics. Introduction to Political Economy reintroduces these ideas into the curriculum by presenting the work of the most influential economists of modern times--Marx, Veblen, Keynes, Galbraith, and Adam Smith.
Introduction to Political Economy covers these thinkers' central ideas, including their writings on social class, the role of government in taming capitalist economies, and misleading assumptions about human behavior in mainstream models. It concludes by presenting classic critiques of monopoly capitalism, examining the Swedish "middle way" between capitalism and socialism, and, in a new chapter, discusses the history and importance of the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation in Spain's Basque Country--the world's largest cooperative enterprise.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Unorthodox, Refreshing, Incomplete August 3, 2009
Reader (Arlington, Virginia)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
University economics training is long on rigor but short on history, sociology, law and ethics. The process can be incredibly narrowing: economic models obscure as much as they illuminate, yet create the impression that economics is a "hard" science yielding "objective" truths. Most students quickly forget the graphs and formulas, but they retain forever the gut faith that unfettered markets are wonderful devices for rewarding talent and maximizing welfare. The experience is deeply ideological. It blinds students to blatant capitalist failures such as inequality, wasteful advertising, asset bubbles, greed and consumerism, and authoritarian workplaces.
"An Introduction to Political Economy" is a great "reality check" on the standard curriculum. The book doesn't present a systematic view of economics, since only two chapters -- those on Keynes and Sweezy/Baran -- really analyze the dynamics of a modern capitalist economy. But the book does discuss authors such as Marx, Veblen and Galbraith, who offered deep criticisms of the social world created by capitalism. It also has chapters on Swedish social democracy and Spanish cooperatives -- alternative forms of economic organization that would strike most American readers as revolutionary.
I liked this book a lot. But to be fair, it is too unbalanced and superficial to substitute for a regular econ text: for example, no one reading it would learn how capitalism has encouraged innovation and created fantastic wealth for hundreds of millions of people who would otherwise be living in poverty. Readers looking for a more comprehensive left overview of the economy should read "Understanding Capitalism" by Samuel Bowles. However, "An Introduction to Political Economy" is a GREAT mind-opener for beginning students who want to understand the real world of capitalism and social institutions.
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. | |
![The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers [7th Edition]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B001OW5O40.01._AA75_PU_PU-5_.jpg)
