Economic Philosophy and American Problems: Classical Mechanism, Marxist Dialectic, and Cultural Evolution

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Rowman & Littlefield, 1991 - 235 pages
Economic thought in the modern world has been dominated by three major theoretical paradigms: the static model based on Newtonian classical mechanics which underlies neoclassical economics, the Hegelian dialectical model incorporated in Marxian economics, and the evolutionary model developed by Veblen which is embedded in neoinstitutional economics. In this book Floyd McFarland presents and critiques these paradigms and undertakes the first systematic effort to demonstrate the superiority of neoinstitutional theory over Marxism and neoclassicism. He concludes with a series of provocative policy recommendations regarding taxation, welfare, and agriculture derived from the analytical and normative structure of neoinstitutional economics.
 

Contents

Concept of Mechanism
1
The Rise of Capitalism and Classical Theory
15
Economic Man in Micro and Macroeconomics
43
Evolution and Economics
73
Basic Veblen
87
Evolution and History Modern Germany and Russia
123
Three Thirds of the Twentieth Century
145
Conclusion
203
Bibliography
227
Index
233
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About the author (1991)

Floyd McFarland is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Oregon State University.

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