Warren Samuels – författare

Institutional economics has been a major part of economic thought for the whole of the twentieth century, and today remains crucial to an understanding of the development of heterodox economics. The two principal publications that founded the school were Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class and Commons's A Sociological View of Sovereignty, both published in 1899.As a tribute to these two seminal works, Warren Samuels has assembled an exceptionally prestigious international group of scholars to produce this landmark volume celebrating the centenary. The chapters assess the work of Veblen and Commons and their influence on the school of institutional economics from a variety of theoretical perspectives. The contributions on Veblen appraise his anthropological analysis of consumption habits of American households from sociological, linguistic and feminist points of view. Conversely, the essays on Commons's work focus on the concepts of property, power and the relationship between legality and economics.

Providing another key contribution to the immensely popular field of law and economics, this book, written by the doyen of the history of economic thought in the US, explores the dynamic relationship between economics, law and polity.Combining a selection of old and new essays by Warren J. Samuels that chart a number of key themes, it provides an important commentary on the development of an academic field and demonstrates how policy is structured and manipulated by human social construction. The areas covered include: the role of manufactured belief powerthe nature and sources of rightsthe construction of markets by firms and governments and the problem of continuity and change in the form of the question of the selectively defined status quo and its statusthe absolutist character of government, rights, markets and legal principles and the accepted ideational structure of law. The Legal-Economic Nexus is an essential read both economists and legal professionals as well as those researching the history of economic thought and the social construction of law.

Institutional economics has been a major part of economic thought for the whole of the twentieth century, and today remains crucial to an understanding of the development of heterodox economics. The two principal publications that founded the school were Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class and Commons's A Sociological View of Sovereignty, both published in 1899.As a tribute to these two seminal works, Warren Samuels has assembled an exceptionally prestigious international group of scholars to produce this landmark volume celebrating the centenary. The chapters assess the work of Veblen and Commons and their influence on the school of institutional economics from a variety of theoretical perspectives. The contributions on Veblen appraise his anthropological analysis of consumption habits of American households from sociological, linguistic and feminist points of view. Conversely, the essays on Commons's work focus on the concepts of property, power and the relationship between legality and economics.

Providing another key contribution to the immensely popular field of law and economics, this book, written by the doyen of the history of economic thought in the US, explores the dynamic relationship between economics, law and polity.Combining a selection of old and new essays by Warren J. Samuels that chart a number of key themes, it provides an important commentary on the development of an academic field and demonstrates how policy is structured and manipulated by human social construction. The areas covered include: the role of manufactured belief powerthe nature and sources of rightsthe construction of markets by firms and governments and the problem of continuity and change in the form of the question of the selectively defined status quo and its statusthe absolutist character of government, rights, markets and legal principles and the accepted ideational structure of law. The Legal-Economic Nexus is an essential read both economists and legal professionals as well as those researching the history of economic thought and the social construction of law.

This collection brings together important materials concerning the study of the economy as a system of power, offering a sample of positions taken by contributors to the Journal of Economic Issues in response to the perceived problems of the social control of corporate power.

Warren Samuels interprets Vilfredo Pareto's Treatise on General Sociology in terms of a general equilibrium model of policy. Three themes and one conviction run throughout the study. The first is a model of policy making involving three sets of variables: power, knowledge, and psychology. The second is a general equilibrium approach to the study of these variables emphasizing their fundamental interdependence. The third is the importance of Pareto's work.Pareto is one of the few individuals whose work has had enormous influence in at least three social sciences in the twentieth century: economics, sociology, and political science. Despite Pareto's attempt in the Treatise to produce a general sociology encompassing all of these sciences (as well as psychology), his work has been treated almost completely from the perspectives of the individual disciplines. This volume's interpretation is consonant with Pareto's intention in the Treatise, namely, to provide a general equilibrium model of the total socio-politico-economic decision-making or policy process.The book is directed at those who comprehend these as processes whose structure, conduct, and performance are a function of complex decision making. Social scientists and policy analysts have moved beyond models that solve problems in the abstract, without working them out through policy making in the real world. The approach outlined here is important to those who are interested in pursuing the working rules of law and morals that govern the distribution and exercise of power as well as the exercise of power that governs the development of these rules.

Warren Samuels interprets Vilfredo Pareto's Treatise on General Sociology in terms of a general equilibrium model of policy. Three themes and one conviction run throughout the study. The first is a model of policy making involving three sets of variables: power, knowledge, and psychology. The second is a general equilibrium approach to the study of these variables emphasizing their fundamental interdependence. The third is the importance of Pareto's work.Pareto is one of the few individuals whose work has had enormous influence in at least three social sciences in the twentieth century: economics, sociology, and political science. Despite Pareto's attempt in the Treatise to produce a general sociology encompassing all of these sciences (as well as psychology), his work has been treated almost completely from the perspectives of the individual disciplines. This volume's interpretation is consonant with Pareto's intention in the Treatise, namely, to provide a general equilibrium model of the total socio-politico-economic decision-making or policy process.The book is directed at those who comprehend these as processes whose structure, conduct, and performance are a function of complex decision making. Social scientists and policy analysts have moved beyond models that solve problems in the abstract, without working them out through policy making in the real world. The approach outlined here is important to those who are interested in pursuing the working rules of law and morals that govern the distribution and exercise of power as well as the exercise of power that governs the development of these rules.

The Chicago School of Economics is arguably the most successful and influential since World War II. This volume provides an interpretation of the Chicago school through constructive critique of its doctrines. It is an inquiry into the nature, role, and significance of the school and its doctrines within both the economics profession and the larger world of ideas and action. This volume offers a deeper understanding of the school, of its strengths and weaknesses, and of the tasks of any body of thought that hopes to comprise an alternative.

John R. Commons is one of the most significant figures in the development of American economics. One of the founders of the Institutional school, Commons developed theories of the evolution of capitalism and of institutional change which continue to influence modern economics. These volumes collect, for the first time, his major essays and articles.