| Description |
xix, 422 pages ; 24 cm |
| Series |
Economics as social theory |
|
Economics as social theory.
|
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Pt. I. Introduction. 1. The limitations of general theory. 2. The problem of historical specificity -- Pt. II. The nineteenth century: the German historical school and its impact. 3. Karl Marx and the specificity of the capitalist system. 4. The older historical school in Germany. 5. The historical school in the British Isles. 6. The methodological failure of the older historical school. 7. Out of Austria: Carl Menger and the Methodenstreit. 8. Alfred Marshall and the British Methodendiskurs. 9. The responses of the younger historical school in Germany -- Pt. III. The twentieth century: from American institutionalism to the end of history. 10. Thorstein Veblen and the foundations of Institutionalism. 11. Early American institutionalism and the problem of historical specificity. 12. The theoretical manifesto of John Commons. 13. Talcott Parsons and the ascent of ahistorical sociology. 14. Death and counter-revolution at the London School of Economics. 15. John Maynard Keynes and his declaration of a General Theory. 16. The triumph of barren universality. 17. Institution blindness and the end of history -- Pt. IV. The millennium: the second coming of history? 18. Are there universals in social and economic theory? 19. Property, culture, habits and institutions. 20. Exchange and production: property and firms. 21. A note on social formations and levels of abstraction. 22. An evolutionary perspective on the historical problem. 23. Invention is helpless without tradition. |
| Summary |
"Economics today has been widely criticised as being more concerned with mathematical technique than the understanding and explanation of real world phenomena. However, one hundred years ago, in Europe and America, economics was fused with the study of history and its practitioners emphasised the importance of the understanding of specific institutions." "How Economics Forgot History shows how the German historical school addressed a key problem in social science and concerned themselves with the historical specific character of economic phenomena and the need to make economic theory more sensitive to the historical and geographical variety of different socio-economic systems. Examining the nature and evolution of the problem of historical specificity, it shows how this issue was tackled by Karl Marx, Gustav Schmoller, Carl Menger, Werner Sombart, Max Weber, Alfred Marshall, John Rogers Commons and Frank Knight. It is also argued that alongside Lionel Robbins, leading figures such as John Maynard Keynes, Joseph Schumpeter and Talcott Parsons also helped to divert the social sciences away from this problem."--BOOK JACKET. |
| Subject |
Historical school of economics.
|
|
Social sciences -- Study and teaching.
|
|
Historical school of economics. (OCoLC)fst00958209
|
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Social sciences -- Study and teaching. (OCoLC)fst01123000
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| ISBN |
0415257166 (hb) |
|
9780415257169 (hb) |
|
0415257174 (pb) |
|
9780415257176 (pb) |
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