Contemporary Economists – serie

'Over many years, Michael Schneider has made himself one of the foremost scholars on that famous economic heretic, J.A. Hobson. Those of us who know of his interest have waited impatiently for his considered views on Hobson. Now we have it in this comprehensive, carefully researched and clearly written account of Hobson, his life and times. Schneider writes with perspective and judgement and clearly, and because of this and his chosen subject the book is an absorbing and rewarding read.' - G.C. Harcourt, University of Cambridge 'This is a scholarly, original and at times provocative book. The definitive study of Hobson the economist.' - J.E. King, La Trobe University 'Michael Schneider develops new insights on Hobson's thinking, based on a careful study of his economic analysis. This is a notably clear account which is a real service to scholarship in this field.'- P.F. Clarke, University of Cambridge The economic theories of the English economist and social scientist J.A. Hobson (1858-1940) were pioneering for their time. This book critically analyses his theories and shows that many of them have contemporary relevance.Hobson is best known by today's economists for his underconsumption theory, which was recognised by Keynes as an important forerunner of The General Theory. Hobson's underconsumption theory is modelled and compared with the economic growth theories of Harrod and Domar. Also included are accounts of Hobson's theories in the areas of welfare economics, income distribution and prices, money and credit, and international economics. The book also outlines Hobson's theory of imperialism, which was addressed to an audience far wider than that of economists, and gained him international fame.

This book provides an intellectual portrait of John Kenneth Galbraith, an institutional economist who examines the configuration of power by the clusters of mores that comprise institutions. Galbraith proposes an aggressive social democratic policy to achieve social and economic reform. This policy includes explicit recognition that the state must intervene to countervail the power of entrenched political economic interests and to provide generous support of the arts and letters to achieve the affirmation of humanity.

In this fresh study of the career and theoretical work of John Bates Clark, the first American economist to achieve international standing, Henry demonstrates that the usual interpretations of Clark are flawed, and that Clark set out to develop a theory of distribution that would support then current political authority and property relationships. Contrary to the normal view, it is shown that there is less of a difference between Clark's early 'Christian Socialist' writings and the writings of his mature period, and that perceptions and concerns formulated in his early career carry over into his more theoretically advanced stage. Also, Clark's religious perceptions are shown to have influenced not only his early thoughts, but those contained in the writings of the later period that brought him to the attention of economists in England and the Continent. Throughout this book, Henry demonstrates the relationship between Clark's theoretical work and the larger social forces then at work which both promoted and constrained his thinking and his economics.

The economic theories of the English economist and social scientist J.A. Hobson is best known by today's economists for his underconsumption theory, which was recognised by Keynes as an important forerunner of The General Theory. Hobson's underconsumption theory is modelled and compared with the economic growth theories of Harrod and Domar.

This book provides an intellectual portrait of John Kenneth Galbraith, an institutional economist who examines the configuration of power by the clusters of mores that comprise institutions. Galbraith proposes an aggressive social democratic policy to achieve social and economic reform. This policy includes explicit recognition that the state must intervene to countervail the power of entrenched political economic interests and to provide generous support of the arts and letters to achieve the affirmation of humanity.