Beyond the Invisible Hand: Groundwork for a New Economics
- ISBN-10
- 0691173699
- ISBN-13
- 9780691173696
- Category
- Business & Economics
- Pages
- 293
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2016-08-02
- Publisher
- Princeton University Press
- Author
- Kaushik Basu
Description
One of the central tenets of mainstream economics is Adam Smith's proposition that, given certain conditions, self-interested behavior by individuals leads them to the social good, almost as if orchestrated by an invisible hand. This deep insight has, over the past two centuries, been taken out of context, contorted, and used as the cornerstone of free-market orthodoxy. In Beyond the Invisible Hand, Kaushik Basu argues that mainstream economics and its conservative popularizers have misrepresented Smith's insight and hampered our understanding of how economies function, why some economies fail and some succeed, and what the nature and role of state intervention might be. Comparing this view of the invisible hand with the vision described by Kafka--in which individuals pursuing their atomistic interests, devoid of moral compunction, end up creating a world that is mean and miserable--Basu argues for collective action and the need to shift our focus from the efficient society to one that is also fair. Using analytic tools from mainstream economics, the book challenges some of the precepts and propositions of mainstream economics. It maintains that, by ignoring the role of culture and custom, traditional economics promotes the view that the current system is the only viable one, thereby serving the interests of those who do well by this system. Beyond the Invisible Hand challenges readers to fundamentally rethink the assumptions underlying modern economic thought and proves that a more equitable society is both possible and sustainable, and hence worth striving for. By scrutinizing Adam Smith's theory, this impassioned critique of contemporary mainstream economics debunks traditional beliefs regarding best economic practices, self-interest, and the social good.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2010-10-25
- 312 pages
- Ebook
- Princeton University Press
Similar books
-
Taxation for Decision Makers, Binder Ready Version
By Shirley Dennis-Escoffier, Karen A. Fortin[LO 8.2] The Timberlake Corporation has an opportunity to sell its manufacturing facility to Carroll Corporation for $4,500,000. The property has a basis of ...
-
Taxation for Decision Makers, 2019 Edition
By Shirley Dennis-Escoffier, Karen A. Fortin[LO 9.2] The Timberlake Corporation has an opportunity to sell its manufacturing facility to Carroll Corporation for $4,500,000. The property has a basis of ...
-
Taxation for Decision Makers, 2020
By Shirley Dennis-Escoffier, Karen A. Fortin[LO 9.2] The Timberlake Corporation has an opportunity to sell its manufacturing facility to Carroll Corporation for $4,500,000. The property has a basis of ...
-
Keeping House in Lusaka
By Karen Tranberg Hansen1934. Memorandum on the Native Tribes and Tribal Areas of Northern Rhodesia . Lusaka : Government Printer . Timberlake , Michael , ed . 1985.
-
Encyclopedia of Community: From the Village to the Virtual World
By DAVID LEVINSON, KAREN CHRISTENSENTimberlake, L. (1987). Only one Earth. London: BBC Books: Earthscan. Tinker, I. (1987). Street foods: Testing assumptions about informal sector by women and ...
-
Taxation for Decision Makers 2006
By Shirley Dennis-Escoffier, Karen FortinThe Timberlake Corporation has an opportunity to sell its manufacturing facility to Carroll Corporation for $ 4,500,000 . The property has a basis of ...
-
Handbook of Organizational Performance: Behavior Analysis and Management
By William K Redmon, Thomas C Mawhinney, Carl Merle JohnsonTimberlake (1980, 1984) promulgated a behavioral-regulation analysis of learned performance that emphasizes the importance of behavioral.
-
Money and the Rule of Law: Generality and Predictability in Monetary Institutions
By Peter J. Boettke, Alexander William Salter, Daniel J. Smith190; Timberlake 1993, pp. 356–357). By increasing fiscal expenditures, President Carter may have successfully cornered the Fed into delaying tighter ...
-
Economic Politics: The Costs of Democracy
By William R. Keech, William R Keech( Timberlake , 1993 , p . 4 ) The same was true of the second Bank of the United States , which was chartered in 1816. However , under the leadership of ...
-
Handbook of Organizational Performance: Behavior Analysis and Management
By William K Redmon, Thomas C Mawhinney, Carl Merle JohnsonSchlinger, H. and Blakely, E. (1987). Function-altering effects of ... Timberlake, W. and Allison, J. (1974). Response deprivation: An empirical 48 HANDBOOK ...