Neoclassical economics focuses on the economic exchange process itself, driven by “sovereign” consumers and producers. There is a strong reliance on the market as self-equilibrating, and it is assumed that the collective action of self-interested economic agents still produces a...
Introduction Marx’s speech on free trade was given before the Democratic Association of Brussels on January 9, 1848. It was published in French in Brussels, in early February 1848. The German translation appeared in the same year and was done...
The following excerpt is Chapter 7 of Joseph Schumpeter’s book “Capitalism, Socialism, Democracy, originally written in 1942. It describes Capitalism as an evolutionary process, with continuous creative destruction of old structures. The theories of monopolistic and oligopolistic competition and their...
These are selected passages from an essay on the “Sociology of Imperialism” (1919) written by Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950). For a short time, he was the Finance Minister of Austria in 1919, and later he became a Harvard professor of economics. He is...
This is a short summary from “”, originally written in 1998. Kevin Kelly is one of the co-founders of Wired Magazine, and has been on the forefront of the technology revolution and its consequences for society. The following passages from...
The following description was written by Simon Webley, of the British-North American Research Association, who also worked on the text itself. INTRODUCTION A series of Interfaith consultations began in 1984 under the patronage of HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and...
The 1844 Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts remained unpublished during Marx’s lifetime and did not surface until 1927, about 44 years after his death. These manuscripts illustrate the young Marx’s transition from philosophy to political economy. Marx’s emerging interest in the economy...
It seems to be fairly simple, but it raises many questions. To start with: Did Adam Smith describe a law of economics akin to a natural law, or is the market mechanism only a model or idealization that describes an...
The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits Article by Milton Friedman (Quoted from: The New York Times Magazine, September 13, 1970.) When I hear businessmen speak eloquently about the “social responsibilities of business in a free-enterprise system,” I...
I am preparing a class on Business and Philosophy, and in this context I am surveying key statistics of the world economy. Our world is shaped by economic trends and developments, and some of these numbers are really interesting. The...
Why does the United States need urgent economic and political reform? An economic comparison between China, India, and the US reveals the stagnation of the US economy since 2000. The US has engaged in two useless and wasteful wars, and...
China is one of the most dynamic and interesting countries today; it’s emerging power will shape the 21st century. Here are some facts about the country that I find useful to understand it better. Population China is the largest country...
Economics is a social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. In this definition, Economics is one of the more fundamental sciences, because it examines the material reproduction of societies. Since it’s object is very...
Russia has an estimated population of 142 Million in mid-2013, with a slightly negative growth rate. It is geographically the largest country in the world, with 1.8 times the size of the US. This means that it is very sparsely...
The Fetishism of commodities is explained in Section 4. of Chapter 1 of Capital: A commodity appears, at first sight, a very trivial thing, and easily understood. Its analysis shows that it is, in reality, a very queer thing, abounding...
“The Transformation of Money into Capital” is a section in Karl Marx’ book Capital, 1867. It is Part II of Volume 1, and it explains how money gets created and transformed in the process of circulating commodities. Money, as described by...