Rival Views of Market Society and Other Recent Essays

Fülszöveg

For more than thirty years, Albert 0. Hirschman has been known for his innovative, lucid, and brilliantly argued contributions to economics, the history of ideas, and social-science theory. This new book begins with four major retrospective papers: on his controversial yet influential ideas about economic development, on the history of the concept of "interest," and on ways of thinking that Hirschman himself introduced into social science and economics— the now widely used concepts of "linkages" and of "exit and voice."
In addition, this book is distinguished by two papers exploring new territory. The title essay offers a wide-ranging discussion of four very different—and highly contradictory—interpretations of the essential characteristics of capitalism. A related plea for "embracing complexity" is made in "Against Parsimony," where it is argued that economics can be enriched by taking account of various kinds of behavior that are usually disregarded in the "dismal science."
In... Tovább

Fülszöveg

For more than thirty years, Albert 0. Hirschman has been known for his innovative, lucid, and brilliantly argued contributions to economics, the history of ideas, and social-science theory. This new book begins with four major retrospective papers: on his controversial yet influential ideas about economic development, on the history of the concept of "interest," and on ways of thinking that Hirschman himself introduced into social science and economics— the now widely used concepts of "linkages" and of "exit and voice."
In addition, this book is distinguished by two papers exploring new territory. The title essay offers a wide-ranging discussion of four very different—and highly contradictory—interpretations of the essential characteristics of capitalism. A related plea for "embracing complexity" is made in "Against Parsimony," where it is argued that economics can be enriched by taking account of various kinds of behavior that are usually disregarded in the "dismal science."
In a third group of essays, Hirschman aims at raising questions rather than at providing overviews: these shorter papers range from a skeptical look at alarmist views on the crisis of the welfare state to a suggestive interpretation of the new democratic currents in Latin America.
Throughout, the contributions to this memorable and characteristically cogent volume reaffirm the powerful originality and enduring value of Hirschman's work. Vissza