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Social Economic, Premises, Findings and Policies. - book reviews
American Journal of Economics and Sociology, The, Jan, 1997 by F.C. Genovese
A Different Way of Thinking About Economic Affairs
"Social economics is a way of thinking about economic affairs which begins at the very foundations of the discipline, at its philosophical base, where discourse among mainstream economists rarely occurs and where too often there is little explicit awareness of the significance of holding fast to different philosophical premises. One such premise is that every economic agent is strictly an individual being. Another is that self-interest alone drives economic behavior. A third is that the common good is served through the invisible hand.
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"All three of these premises, along with others, are challenged by social economists who, in contrast with mainstream economists, recognize that such premises are critically important because premises determine the way in which they address and attempt to repair an economy that is dysfunctioning. Further, years of careful inquiry have led social economists to reject much of the conventional thinking about how an economy based on those premises actually operates. As more substantial premises are presented as replacement for the less substantial ones from mainstream economics, a different and more discerning body of thought emerges about how the economy truly functions."
The above is from Edward J. O'Boyle's "Editor's Preface" to Social Economic, Premises, findings and policies (London and New York: Routledge, 1996). The thirteen contributions are grouped under the headings "On the origins of values and premises in social economics," "On producing efficiently, turning a profit, and investing it," and "On justice, solidarity, and community," "On repairing the dysfunction of capitalist economies" and "On the transition from command economies."
The book was published in conjunction with the Association for Social Economics, is dedicated to William R, Waters and includes as contributors Elba K. Brown-Collier, Severyn T. Bruyn, Peter L. Danner, John E. Elliott, Lewis E. Hill, Hans E. Jensen, Edward J. Kane, Mark A. Lutz, Thomas O. Nitsch, Christine Rider, Kishor Thanawala, Stephen T. Worland and the Editor.
Since the Harvard Business School became interested in "Ethics" (and received a hefty contribution for this purpose) there has been much imitation of "putting Philosophy into business education." A book such as this could add considerable content to such efforts.
Whether it will be widely read by the economics profession is doubtful, since people read what confirms their positions, not things they find disturbing. Few people adopt the admonition, "If you find you agree with what you are reading, stop reading. You are not learning anything!"
COPYRIGHT 1997 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
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