A Joyful Economist. Scitovsky's Memoirs

2012 ◽  
pp. 57-73
Author(s):  
Marina Bianchi
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Original Thinking ◽  
Personal Philosophy

Few economists choose to write memoirs, and of those who do most adopt the "logic of my contributionsŁ approach. Tibor Scitovsky, Hungarian-born theorist who spent most of his career at Stanford and Berkeley, instead left us unpublished recollections, many of his childhood, others bearing on his personal philosophy (and shift therein) - of teaching, of the role of economic theory, of its imperfections. By their nature these Memoirs give us glimpses into his nimble, original thinking, without being weighed down with considerations of priority, answering critics, and so on. The paper tries to capture this spirit, frequently in Scitovsky's own words.

Whatever Happened to the Cambridge Capital Theory Controversies? (With comments by L. Pasinetti, F. Fisher, J. Felipe and J. McCombie, R. Greenfield and reply by the authors)

2009 ◽  
pp. 4-27
Author(s):  
A. Cohen ◽  
G. Harcourt
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Chronological Order ◽  
Capital Theory

The article written by the well-known theorists and historians of economic thought contains a detailed overview of the Cambridge capital controversy, which had raged from the mid-1950-s through the mid-1970-s. The authors track the origins of the controversy and cover arguments of both sides in chronological order. From their point of view, the discussion hasnt been resolved, and its main underlying aspects were ideological beliefs and fundamental methodological controversies on the nature of equilibrium and on the role of time in economic theory. The article is published with comments written by other leading theoreticians.

Wilfred Ethier. Modern International Economics. New York: W. W. Norton and Company. 1983. xviii + 588 pp.

1988 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-83
Author(s):  
Nadeem A. Burney
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
New York ◽  
Economic Theory ◽  
International Economics ◽  
International Monetary System ◽  
International Markets ◽  
The Past ◽  
Monetary System ◽  
Recent Developments

Its been long recognized that various economies of the world are interlinked through international trade. The experience of the past several years, however, has demonstrated that this economic interdependence is far greater than was previously realized. In this context, the importance of international economic theory as an area distinct from general economics hardly needs any mentioning. What gives international economic theory this distinction is international markets for some goods and effects of national sovereignty on the character of economic activity. Wilfred Ethier's book, which incorporates recent developments in the field, is an excellent addition to textbooks on international economics for one- or twosemester undergraduate courses. The book mostly covers standard topics. A distinguishing feature of this book is its detailed analysis of the flexible exchange rates and a discussion of the various approaches used for their determination. Within each chapter, the author has extensively used facts, figures and major events to clarify the concepts in the light of the theoretical framework. The book also discusses, in a fair amount of detail, the existing international monetary system and the role of various international organizations.

Mexico's Pre-Revolutionary Reckoning with Railroads

1985 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Randall
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic Theory ◽  
Transportation Network ◽  
Underdeveloped Country ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Economic Interpretation ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Railway System ◽  
Economic Considerations

Economic considerations all but dominate recent historical writing in this country about the railroads of Mexico. Technical matters of construction and operation, as well as the role of the state in both, are touched upon, but economic interpretation, whether of the development of a railway system or of its impact on the nation, is the watchword if not catchword of most writing. Probably the leading example of the dominant approach is Growth against Development: The Economic Impact of Railroads in Porfirian Mexico (Northern Illinois University Press, 1981), by John H. Coatsworth, in which the author concludes that, while “the short run contribution of railroads to economic growth was large,” their longrun impact helped “to create the underdeveloped country Mexico has become.” Applying economic theory and measuring, Coatsworth in essence proves with numbers a case argued more elegantly in straight prose early in this century: that the application of a modern transportation network to a staple producing economy will do little more than extend and intensify the production system so as to increase the staple output.

The Role of Economic Theory

2002 ◽  
pp. 3-16
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory

scholarly journals From Polytheism to Monotheism: Zoroaster and Some Economic Theory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Ferrero
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Economic Models ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Third Way ◽  
Greco Roman

AbstractThe prophet Zoroaster founded the first monotheistic religion in history, which once rose to great imperial status and still survives unchanged today despite centuries of Muslim pressure. Unlike the founders of other monotheistic religions after him, he achieved this not through the overthrow of the original Iranian polytheism but through its deep reform—a strategy that made acceptance easier and ensured a continuing role for the priests. Monotheistic reform is thus a third way out of ancient Indo-European polytheism, besides extinction in the Greco-Roman case and mutation into sectarian theism in the Indian case. This paper surveys the Iranian story and offers two economic models to account for the two key factors that made the transition to monotheism possible: the theological structure and the role of the priesthood.

scholarly journals Znaczenie efektu Cantillona w teorii ekonomii

Ekonomia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-25
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Sieroń
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Public Choice ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Central Banking ◽  
Price Bubbles ◽  
Wealth Inequalities

The Role of Cantillon Effect in EconomicsThe aim of this article is to examine the role of the Cantillon effect in economics. The literature of economic theory lacks the detailed discussion of the implications of the first-round effect for economics. This paper attempts to fill this gap. The article is mainly theoretical, but considerations presented are illustrated by relevant empirical data. Based on the analysis, the author concludes that the effect of Cantillon develops particularly the theory of money and inflation, the theory of banking and central banking, the theory of business cycle and price bubbles, the theory of income distribution and income and wealth inequalities, and the theory of public choice.

Maximizing, Moralizing, and Dramatizing

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Economic Theory ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Karl Popper ◽  
Crucial Element ◽  
The Social ◽  
Theory Of Democracy

This chapter describes a “dramatistic,” “dramatic,” or “dramaturgical” approach to the study of social interaction. It asks whether the dramaturgical model insists on the theatricality of social life merely in the sense of insisting that people fill roles just as persons act parts in a play. This is the question of whether the crucial element in the dramaturgical picture is that cluster of insights that goes under the general heading of “role distance.” The chapter considers the peculiarities of rational explanation and about the role of reconstructions of “the thing to do” other than the role of explaining an action or series of actions by focusing on voting behavior in the terms proposed by Anthony Downs's An Economic Theory of Democracy. It also examines some recent accounts of the phenomenon of suicide, along with the rationality principle, which Karl Popper calls “false but indispensable” to the social sciences.

Ruling Regions, Exploiting Resources

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Mattingly
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Regional Economies ◽  
Colonial Discourse ◽  
Roman Economy ◽  
Roman Imperialism ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Imperial Power ◽  
Global And Local

In recent years, debate has started to explore the tensions between global and local aspects of the Roman economic world. This chapter argues that the Roman economy is not only best understood as an agglomeration of globalized regional economies but that we can also define a series of major mechanisms at work that governed discrete areas of economic activity. In particular, it focuses on the role of the state as a motor of economic activity through its status as an imperial power. It constructs some simple models built around colonial discourse analysis, rather than complex economic theory. The main purpose of this chapter is not to outline a new general model for the Roman economy but to reignite debate about the economic face of Roman imperialism.

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