The book covers utilitarianism and welfare economics, moving on to Rawls's social contract and the Sen/Nussbaum capability approach with a refreshingly readable style. It is an important read for economists and other social scientists.

Michael Kalecki was a Polish economist who independently discovered many of the key concepts of what is now identified as Keynesian theory. His contribution to macroeconomics was late in being acknowledged, but his work can be seen to have resounding influence on some of today's economic problems. The analyses presented in this book serve to scrutinize Kalecki's theories and show both their significance for explaining the working of modern economies and the areas that need adaptation to changed circumstances. Crucial issues in the present world economy covered in this book include: the...

This punchy book unites mainline mathematical economics and sometimes idiosyncratic political economy. Freshness is brought to the market concept giving general equilibrium theory a new lease of life, and an opening of thought on such matters as free trade, globalization and the environment.
Where most theories of general equilibrium have been based on utility maximizing traders, Afriat here maintains the view that the topic essentially is concerned with aggregates and that anything to do with utility is at best secondary if not spurious. The book goes on to discuss...

The future of work in advanced industrial democracies is the subject of intense debate and public concern. Despite predictions that working hours would fall and leisure time would rise as society progressed, the opposite has in fact occurred. This new book contains a twofold investigation into 'the end of work' with theoretical and policy angles contributing to the growing research field on the boundaries of economics and sociology.

Cognitive Developments in Economics proposes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of human problem solving, choice, decision-making and change, to explain economic transactions, and the nature and evolution of organisations and institutions. The book contributes to a large spectrum of economic fields such as consumer theory, economics of the firm, economics of innovation, evolutionary economics and experimental economics.

Where does the power of money come from? Why is trust so important in financial operations? How does the swapping of gifts differ from the exchange of commodities? Where does self-interest stop and communal solidarity start in capitalist economies?
These issues and many more are discussed in a rigorous, yet readable, manner in Social Foundations of Markets, Money and Credit. It is shown in particular that capitalist economies are permeated with non-economic characteristics.
This carefully argued book will prove interesting and valuable to students and researchers not only in...

A person finds a lost purse with a lot of money in it. Ought she try to return it to its owner or keep it herself? And even more interestingly, what will she actually do? According to standard economic theory, a rational person is supposed to maximize her utility and, at least when unobserved, keep the purse for herself. In reality, however, most people return the purse although they are unobserved or, at least, they feel uneasy about not doing so. Evidently, these people share a common attitude towards other people's property. In social life, norms and values like this typically help in...

Jean-Paul Fitoussi needs no introduction as one of the world's foremost macroeconomists of his generation. This celebration of his work includes contributions from Nobel Prize - winning economists Robert W. Clower and Robert Solow as well as Olivier Blanchard and leading economic theorist, Edmond Malinvaud.

The book is not an unrestricted survey engaging a vast and repetative literature, but a systematic treatise within clear boundaries, largely a document of Afriat's own work. The original motive of the work is to elaborate a concept of what really is a price index, which, despite some kind of price-level notion having a presence throughout economics, in theory and practice, had been missing.

It is often assumed that left-of-center governments in the US and Britain supported policies that would lead to ever-increasing public spending and higher taxes. Right-of-center governments, by way of contrast, are expected to support policies that reduce public spending and lower taxes. These characterizations were reinforced with the advent of Reaganomics and Thatcherite economic policy. Despite this assumption, the elections of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair in the 1990s saw the consolidation and completion of critical aspects of the Reagan-Thatcher fiscal agenda. This impressive book...