Economics is "the study of how society uses its scarce resources" or, more snappily, "the science of choices" that helps people make decisions about how to use such scarce things as land, labour, raw materials, capital, entrepreneurial spirit and time. An understanding of economics can therefore help people in politics and public service, in business and the professions, and even in their private life make decisions that will produce the results they are seeking to achieve. For anyone who wants a better understanding of this far from dismal science, which has such a powerful influence on world affairs, business, and the way we live, this clear and entertaining guide will prove invaluable.
John Mills provides a critical survey of the way economics has developed. He argues that the main goal of economics ought to be to show how to achieve a combination of economic growth, full employment, low inflation, avoidance of extreme poverty, and sustainability. That it has failed to do so is neither inevitable nor accidental. It has failed because of a combination of intellectual error and the effects of social and political pressure, which Mills claims could and should have been avoided.
Green Economics: An Introduction to Theory, Policy and Practice
The world as we know it needs a new economics. Climate change, financial crisis and out-of-control globalization–all the major problems facing the world have their root in the dominant economic system.Green economics offers an alternative to mainstream economics, which views society and the ecosystem as subsets of the wider, limitless global economy. Starting with the recognition of planetary limits and an understanding of the importance of using resources wisely, green economics views the economy as nested within society, which itself as part of the greater ecosystem.
A Biographical Dictionary of Dissenting Economists
An extensive guide to economists both past and present which provides biographical, bibliographical and critical information on over 1000 economists working in the non-neo-classical tradition, broadly defined. It includes entries on radical economists, Marxists, post-Keynesians, Kaleckians, behaviouralists and institutionalists. The book demonstrates the extent and richness of the radical non-orthodox tradition in economics. The economists were themselves asked to state their principal contributions to economics, supplemented by a list of their leading books and articles.
An informal and revealing introduction to the ideas of modern systems theory and self-organization as they apply to problems in the economic realm. David Batten interleaves anecdotes and stories with technical discussions, in order to provide the general reader with a good feel for how economies function and change.
