Description
Book SynopsisOne of the greatest and most joyful challenges of adult life is to develop skills that make the people around us better off with us than without us. Integrity is a key part of that challenge. We are social animals, aiming not simply to trade but to make a place for ourselves in a community. You don't want to have to pretend that you feel proud of fooling your customers into believing you could be trusted. The ethical question is: how do people have to live in order to make the world a better place with them than without them? The economic question is: what kind of society makes people willing and able to use their talents in a way that is good for them and for the people around them? The entrepreneurial question is: what does it take to show up in the marketplace with something that can take your community to a different level? In this book, the authors discuss the connections between the ethical, economic, and entrepreneurial dimensions of a life well-lived.
Trade ReviewThe authors do an outstanding job of capturing the essential, complementary roles of commerce and ethics in short, concise chapters that are easily digestible for readers of almost any age and educational background. They adroitly link seemingly diverse concepts into a simple narrative of societal sustainability through human interdependence and cooperation. Commercial Society is a thoughtful, delightfully easy, and critically important read. -- Stephen L. Vargo, Professor of Marketing, University of Hawai’i at Manoa
This thought-provoking text encourages exploration and engagement in life’s conversation regarding the connection of ethical behavior to commercial economic progress, as well as the importance of entrepreneurship in creating ways to make others better off. It is succinct and will engage students creatively and deeply in dialogue, study, and research. -- Candace Smith, Economics Teacher
Learning economics is hard because it is part social science, part business discipline, part moral philosophy. You need to learn how the world works, how to flourish in business and life, and how choices benefit or harm others. Commercial Society is the first text that consistently stresses all three of these points in a clear and simple way. Highly recommended! -- Joshua C. Hall, Professor of Economics, West Virginia University
A well-conceived and well-executed guide for young adults embarking on lives in our commercial society. The book provides a beautifully clear description of trade and its centrality to human life, the institutions supporting trade, and the ethics woven into its fabric. On the practical side it discusses personal and business finance and ends with a challenge to the reader to start his or her own business. -- David Keyt, Research Professor, The Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, Univerisity of Arizona, USA
Table of ContentsEthics, Economy, and Entrepreneurship Why Ethics? Why Economy? Why Entrepreneurship? Part 1: Key Concept Trade Resources Cost Institutions Value Part 2: Progress Adam Smith on Progress Transaction Cost and Progress Commerce and Progress Production Possibilities Frontier What Seems Like Progress Part 3: Understanding Trade Conditions for Trade Comparative Advantage Division of Labor Buyers Sellers A Market: Supply and Demand A Market Responds: Price and Quantity Economic Surplus Price Signals and Spontaneous Order Price Controls Economic Science: Putting Theory to the Test Progress and Wealth Creation Part 4: Trust, Agency, and Bystanders Principal-Agent Framework Cost to Bystanders Competitors are not Bystanders The Logic of the Commons Environmental Tragedies Property Parcels Communal Property Trust Benefits for Bystanders Market Power Monopoly Power Monopsony Power International Trade and Trade Protection What Should Not be for Sale Part 5: Management of a Commercial Society Financial Institutions Fractional Reserve Banking Measuring Economies Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Unemployment Rate Measuring the Price Level Fiscal Policy Monetary Policy Public Choice Corruption Part 6: Personal and Business Finance Accounting Basics Compound Growth Saving, Borrowing, and Investing Marketing Fundamentals Insurance Break-Even Analysis Budgeting Financial Management Part 7: Innovation and Entrepreneurship Knowledge Discovery It Takes More than Ideas What Innovation Looks Like Entry, Exit, and the Role of Profit Creative Destruction Entrepreneurs as Resource Integrators Entrepreneurship as a Process Markets Don’t Exist Competitive Advantage - The Dynamics of Remaining Viable The Big Errors The Entrepreneur and Self-Assessment
