Search results for ""Author John Laurent""

Henry George's Progress and Poverty sold more than 3 million copies by the time of its 50th anniversary in 1929 - outselling all other works on economics - yet today economics students can complete their courses without ever having heard of the author's name. This collection redresses this neglect, by presenting a range of perspectives on Henry George's fertile ideas which, it is increasingly argued, merit revisiting in terms of their capacity to contribute towards solutions to current problems including runaway land values, nationalization of land, monopoly control of public assets and environmental degradation. The book also discusses George's significant theoretical contributions, including the 'Henry George Theorem' - named after him by two Nobel prize winning economists - and important insights bearing on the relation of evolutionary theory to economics. The authors also discuss George's powerful influence on the economic development of Australia and New Zealand, and the affinity he felt for these countries is also considered.Henry George's Legacy in Economic Thought will appeal in particular to upper level students and scholars of the history of economic thought and the public sector but also to economists more widely.

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For much of the twentieth century, mainstream economists have treated human agents in their models as if they were rational beings of unbounded computational capacity - the notorious 'Homo Economicus' of much economic theory. However, the patent inadequacies of this understanding of human nature have become increasingly apparent, and economists have begun looking for more realistic models, incorporating the insights of evolutionary theory. The authors address the question of human nature in economics, examining not only some of the recent writing on this subject in evolutionary psychology and related disciplines, but also the ideas of important thinkers in the Western intellectual tradition. Beginning with the ancient Greeks and progressing to the modern day, the contributors explore the works of such thinkers as Augustine, Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, Alfred Marshall and Kenneth Boulding.Many of these works are placed in a Darwinian, evolutionary perspective, with the imperative that the study of human nature must be consistent with our understanding of human evolution, and should consider how human beings are moulded by cultural and institutional influences. Naturally, Darwin's own view of human nature is also explored, undermining the mistaken notion that Darwinism promotes human nature as greedy, uncooperative and self-seeking.This enlightening, original and highly readable work will be of great interest to professional economists and students, researchers and teachers of evolutionary economics.

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Darwinism is fast becoming an orthodoxy of modern thought, a framework within which a wide range of knowledge communities conduct their discourse. Ever since its formation, Darwinian theory has experienced a close, though not always comfortable, association with economics. Evolutionary economists now appear to show little concern for the consistency of knowledge in their embrace of Darwinism.Darwinism and Evolutionary Economics brings together contributions from eminent authors who, building on Darwin's own insights and on developments in evolutionary theory, offer challenging views on how economics can use evolutionary ideas effectively.This collection of critical essays provides a thorough examination of the application of Darwinian theory to economic thought, and will appeal to evolutionary economists and all those with an interest in Darwin, innovation and evolutionary science.

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Adam Smith's remarkable book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, now deservedly coming to greater prominence, combines classical philosophy, early modern psychology and incisive observations of everyday life into a complex theory of human behaviour. New Perspectives on Adam Smith's "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" is a comprehensive study of Smith's ideas, reflecting the explosion of interest in his work. It brings together themes and methodologies from a variety of fields, including politics, sociology, intellectual history, history of science and evolutionary psychology. The contributions revolve around four themes: the ways in which Smith combined both classical and modern sources to create his own account of human economic and social behaviour; the insights gained from taking seriously the centrality of a benevolent deity to Smith's system; Smith's exploration of new forms of civility and self-formation, and the relationship between Smith's moral philosophy and the emerging bodies of knowledge that were formalised in the nineteenth century as sociology and science.Economists and political economists have predominated in Adam Smith scholarship. This book looks at Smith's ideas from a much broader set of disciplinary perspectives and as such will appeal to historians of economic, political and moral thought as well as Adam Smith scholars in particular and economists more generally.

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