Economic Theory and the Roman Monetary Economy. By Colin P. Elliott. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Pp. 222. $97.69, hardcover; $80.00, Kindle.

I. Objective of this PaperThe main objective of this paper is to show the relevance of ethical or normativeelements in economic theory. The paper builds on the exchangemechanism of economics as the ethical basis of the social order and showsthat an ethical economic system must be capable of infdtely reproducingthis exchange mechanism in the rational working of the total social systemthrough higher and higher levels of social preferences.In building up this analytical framework of ethical economics, we studythe field of social economics in general and of Islamic economics in particularas a field of social economics. Through this we introduce a reconceptualizationof ethical economics in terms of the fundamental microeconomic buildmgblocks. The premise of the argument therefore is that since the exchangemechanism is the instrument of transmitting ethical preferences, it is themicroeconomic foundation that is capable in the first place of buildmg upthe ethical economic order as a whole. The ethical macroeconomic systemdepends upon aggregations at the microeconomic level.II. IntroductionAs Boulding mentions, economics first started off as a moral science.Adam Smith, who was ”both the Adam and the Smith of systematic economics,”was professor of moral philosophy. Even long after that, economics continuedto be taught as a part of the moral sciences tripos at Cambridge University ...

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Harcourt, Prof. Geoffrey Colin, (born 27 June 1931), Fellow and College Lecturer in Economics, Jesus College, Cambridge, 1982–98, now Emeritus Fellow (President, 1988–89 and 1990–92); Reader (ad hominem) in the History of Economic Theory, Cambridge University, 1990–98, now Emeritus

10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u18973 ◽

2007 ◽

Keyword(s):

Economic Theory ◽

Cambridge University ◽

Ad Hominem ◽

History Of

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The labor-managed firm, Jaroslav Vanek and me

Journal of Participation and Employee Ownership ◽

10.1108/jpeo-07-2020-0020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (2/3) ◽

pp. 123-134

Author(s):

Gregory K. Dow

Keyword(s):

Economic Theory ◽

Intellectual History ◽

Design Methodology ◽

Large Degree ◽

Narrative Form ◽

Content Type ◽

Cambridge University ◽

Intellectual Influence ◽

The Relationship ◽

Theoretical Foundations

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to summarize the relationship between the research of Jaroslav Vanek on labor-managed firms (LMFs) and the research of Gregory K. Dow on the same topic.Design/methodology/approachThe article reviews the research of Jaroslav Vanek in the 1970s and explains how this influenced the publications of Gregory K. Dow extending from the 1980s to the present. A particular focus involves Dow's book “The Labor-Managed Firm: Theoretical Foundations” published by Cambridge University Press in 2018. The methodology is to present an intellectual history in narrative form. The scope of the paper is the economic theory of the LMF.FindingsThe article finds that Dow's interest in LMFs was stimulated by Vanek's publications from the early 1970s. However, Dow's publications in the 1980s were motivated to a large degree by efforts to overcome the limitations of Vanek's theory of the LMF, a goal that shaped much of Dow's later research in the field.Originality/valueThe paper illuminates the strong intellectual influence Jaroslav Vanek exerted on the economic theory of the LMF. Readers who want information about the influences on Dow's work may also find it useful.

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