Aron Katsenelinboigen - Böcker

The growing turbulence of today's economic life requires innovative approaches to economics. There have been recent dissident works examining both micro- and macroeconomics which call into question orthodox indicators of economic performance--such as profit and gross national product. The present work adds to such innovative economic thought by offering an indeterministic conceptualization of different levels of an economy and by elaborating a variety of stages of economic development, each with its respective measure of performance.The main conclusions arrived at in this unique work suggest that the fundamental tenets of present-day economic thought must be re-examined. * The overall scheme of measuring changes in economics based on constant prices for some base year must be redesigned in order to avoid measuring development under the guise of measuring growth; * The market price of a business has to be set on the basis of the value of its potential. * It is advisable to measure the firm's current economic performance based on the criterion which designates the gap between the firm's potential and a properly defined ideal state; * Methods of teaching business should be distinguished depending on students' expected right-brain or left-brain orientation; * It is important to realize that the subjective elements of decision-making by the leaders of an economic system or subsystem are intrinsic to indeterministic development of the economy.

Scholars in various fields are exploring similar ideas to combat indeterminism when conditions are chaotic and prohibit the use of a rigid program approach, even with probabilities. Many do not realize that they are dealing with the same issues that appear between chaos and full order (or stochastic processes) in a phase that lends itself to the same formal treatment. Examples are observed in the development of social systems, in the evaluation of the performance of a corporation or a position in chess, in the perception of artworks. Conceptualization of this treatment requires a better understanding of the category of indeterminism. Confirmation of this is the absence of separation between indeterminism and, especially, uncertainty. One indirect confirmation of this is the lack of a developed concept of the degree of indeterminism.The author contends that the category of indeterminism has its own meaning dealing with unavoidability. There are several phases in the spectrum of measurement of indeterminism, among which is a phase—a key phase of this book—which requires the introduction of the category of predisposition and a corresponding calculus of predisposition. By means of the aesthetic method, the degree of beauty (ugliness) measures perception by the given subjet of the predisposition for development of observable objects.

Originally published in 1997 Evolutionary Change addresses the somatic mechanism of change. Although astounding advances in molecular biology have opened up new engineering possibilities to shape our future in terms of "improving" the human species as well as eradicating all kinds of pathological characteristics of biological development, these possibilities pose potentially serious dangers. They arise primarily from the local nature of changes that are introduced and the impact of the environment on the overall development of the biological system. The book explores the biological mechanisms of change in their entirety – as they fit into the general dynamics of biological systems – and demonstrates the pitfalls of tackling change from a narrow perspective, using cancer as an example of certain pathological manifestations of these mechanisms of change.

Originally published in 1997 Evolutionary Change addresses the somatic mechanism of change. Although astounding advances in molecular biology have opened up new engineering possibilities to shape our future in terms of "improving" the human species as well as eradicating all kinds of pathological characteristics of biological development, these possibilities pose potentially serious dangers. They arise primarily from the local nature of changes that are introduced and the impact of the environment on the overall development of the biological system. The book explores the biological mechanisms of change in their entirety – as they fit into the general dynamics of biological systems – and demonstrates the pitfalls of tackling change from a narrow perspective, using cancer as an example of certain pathological manifestations of these mechanisms of change.

Political change in the Soviet Union never seemed more likely than in the period of glasnost and perestroika. The Soviet Union: 1917-1991 examines some of the less well explored areas of Soviet political and economic life to develop a feasible set of alternatives for future Soviet development and to establish which ones the system is predisposed to select.Katsenelinboigen takes on these difficult questions. Is it wise to develop glasnost in ways that allow masses to participate in the solution of strategic national problems? Can Soviet military expenses be reduced only to direct ones or is the whole Soviet economy military oriented? What explains widespread corruption among Soviet officials? Can market institutions be introduced into the Soviet economy, and if so, how is this best accomplished? Rather than focusing on a single dimension, such as authoritarianism versus democracy, his analysis incorporates multidimensional perspectives (among them, pluralism, division of powers and openness participation of competent and responsible people in decision making) which permit a more precise understanding of the limits of present options and allow him to develop new policy prospects.Although this book is about the Soviet Union, the approaches Katsenelinboigen uses have application in other contexts. His discussion of inflation for example and why it is found in planned as well as market economies has important implications for many developing countries. It will be of interest to those who seek a new perspective on events in the Soviet Union, as well as specialists in international relations, political science, and economics.