The Making of Economic Society

by Heilbroner, Robert; Milberg, William

• ISBN13: 9780138747367
• ISBN10: 0138747369
• Edition: 10th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-11-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

With its roots in history and eyes on the future, this book traces the development of our economic society from the Middle Ages to the present, offering a balanced perspective of why our economy is the way it is and where it may be headed. It explores the catalytic role past economic trends and dynamics particularly capitalism have played in creating the present challenges we face, and offers suggestions on how we may deal with them most effectively in the future. Chapter topics include the economic problem, the premarket economy, the emergence of market society, the industrial revolution, the great depression, the rise of the public sector, modern capitalism emerges in Europe, the golden age of capitalism, the rise and fall of socialism, the globalization of economic life, and why some nations remain poor. For individuals interested in the economic history of the U.S.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xv
CHAPTER 1 The Economic Problem	1	(13)
The Individual and Society	2	(2)
Division of labor	3	(1)
Economics and scarcity	3	(1)
The tasks of economic society	4	(1)
Production and Distribution	4	(2)
Mobilizing effort	4	(1)
Allocating effort	5	(1)
Distributing output	6	(1)
Three Solutions to the Economic Problem	6	(8)
Tradition	7	(1)
The cost of tradition	8	(1)
Command	9	(1)
The impact of command	10	(1)
The market	10	(2)
Economics and the market system	12	(2)
CHAPTER 2 The Premarket Economy	14	(21)
The Economic Organization of Antiquity	15	(7)
Agricultural foundation of ancient societies	16	(1)
Economic life of the cities	17	(1)
Slavery	18	(1)
The social surplus	19	(1)
Wealth and power	19	(1)
"Economics" and social justice in antiquity	20	(2)
Economic Society in the Middle Ages	22	(9)
The fall of Rome	23	(1)
Manorial organization of society	23	(1)
Providing security	24	(1)
Economics of manorial life	25	(1)
Town and fair	26	(1)
Guilds	26	(1)
Functions of the guild	27	(1)
Medieval economics	28	(1)
The just price	29	(1)
The disrepute of gain	30	(1)
Prerequisites of Change	31	(4)
CHAPTER 3 The Emergence of Market Society	35	(23)
Forces of Change	35	(9)
The itinerant merchant	35	(2)
Urbanization	37	(1)
The Crusades	38	(1)
Growth of national power	39	(1)
Exploration	40	(1)
Change in religious climate	40	(1)
Calvinism	41	(1)
The Protestant ethic	42	(1)
Breakdown of the manorial system	43	(1)
Rise of the cash economy	44	(1)
Appearance of the Economic Aspect of Life	44	(6)
Labor, land, and capital come into being	45	(1)
Enclosures	46	(1)
Emergence of the Proletariat	47	(1)
Factors of production	48	(1)
Wage labor and capitalism	48	(1)
Capitalism and the profit motive	49	(1)
The Invention of Economics	50	(8)
The "philosophy" of trade	50	(1)
Division of labor	51	(1)
Adam Smith's growth model	52	(1)
The dynamics of the system	52	(1)
The market mechanism	53	(1)
The market and allocation	54	(1)
The self-regulating system	54	(1)
The market system and the rise of capitalism	55	(3)
CHAPTER 4 The Industrial Revolution	58	(20)
A Great Turning Point	59	(11)
Pace of technical change	59	(1)
England in 1750	60	(1)
Rise of the new men	61	(2)
The industrial entrepreneur	63	(1)
The new rich	64	(1)
Industrial and social repercussions	65	(1)
Rise of the factory	65	(1)
Conditions of labor	66	(2)
Early capitalism and social justice	68	(2)
The Industrial Revolution in the Perspective of Theory	70	(8)
Capital and productivity	70	(1)
Capital and specialization	71	(1)
Capital and saving	72	(1)
Saving and investment	72	(1)
Growth in early capitalism	73	(1)
Incentives for growth	74	(1)
The market as a capital-building mechanism	74	(4)
CHAPTER 5 The Impact of Industrial Technology	78	(16)
Impact of One Invention	79	(1)
The automobilization of America	80	(1)
The General Impact of Technology	80	(2)
Urbanization	81	(1)
Interdependence	81	(1)
Sociological effects	81	(1)
Mass Production	82	(2)
Economies of large-scale production	83	(1)
Agents of Industrial Change	84	(2)
The great entrepreneurs	84	(1)
Captains of industry	85	(1)
The omnipresent trust	85	(1)
The Change in Market Structure	86	(1)
The Rise of Big Business	87	(7)
Change in competition	87	(1)
Limitation of competition	88	(1)
Trusts, mergers, and growth	89	(1)
Threat of monopoly capitalism	90	(1)
Rise of antitrust legislation	90	(1)
The Berle and Means study	91	(3)
CHAPTER 6 The Great Depression	94	(13)
The Path of Growth	94	(9)
America in 1929	96	(1)
The stock market boom	96	(1)
The great crash	97	(1)
The Great Depression	97	(1)
Causes of the depression: speculation	98	(1)
Weakness on the farm	99	(1)
Inelastic demand	99	(1)
Weakness in the factory	100	(1)
Technology and employment	101	(1)
Maldistribution of income	102	(1)
Critical Role of Capital Formation	103	(4)
Investment and profit expectations	103	(1)
Effects of falling investment	104	(1)
Multiplier effect	105	(2)
CHAPTER 7 The Rise of the Public Sector	107	(12)
The New Deal	107	(3)
Intervening in markets	108	(1)
New interventions	109	(1)
A historical detour into banking	110	(1)
Rise of National Banks	110	(1)
Monetary Policy	111	(5)
The New Deal's new policy	111	(1)
Public spending as a new force	112	(1)
The economy fails to respond	113	(1)
Compensatory government spending	114	(1)
Fears of government intervention	114	(1)
Impact of the war	115	(1)
Aftermath of the war	115	(1)
Fiscal Policy Enters the Scene	116	(1)
Looking at the Public Sector	117	(2)
CHAPTER 8 Modern Capitalism Emerges in Europe	119	(9)
The Feudal Heritage	119	(4)
National rivalries	120	(1)
The lag in productivity	121	(1)
Crucial role of European trade	121	(1)
Breakdown of international trade	122	(1)
European socialism	123	(1)
Recovery of European Capitalism	123	(2)
Welfare capitalism	123	(1)
The Common Market	124	(1)
Corporatism	125	(1)
Europe Slows Down	126	(2)
CHAPTER 9 The Golden Age of Capitalism	128	(9)
Postwar Possibilities	128	(3)
International forces	129	(1)
Geopolitics enters the picture	130	(1)
Meanwhile, back at home	130	(1)
Structural Changes in American Capitalism	131	(3)
Technology lends a hand	131	(1)
The capital-labor accord	132	(1)
The government finds its place	133	(1)
World Prosperity and Convergence	134	(3)
Tarnish begins to show	134	(3)
CHAPTER 10 The Golden Age Comes to an End	137	(12)
Macroeconomic Dilemmas	137	(5)
Inflation enters the scene	137	(1)
Oil shock	138	(1)
Stagflation and the policy dilemma	139	(2)
The silent depression	141	(1)
Explaining Economic Decline	142	(1)
Behind the numbers: The shift to services	142	(1)
The slow pace of investment	142	(1)
Downsizing	143	(1)
From Slower Growth to Greater Inequality	143	(6)
Behind the inequality problem	145	(1)
The government retreats	146	(3)
CHAPTER 11 The Globalization of Economic Life	149	(13)
The Reshaping of the World Economy	149	(2)
The collapse of Bretton Woods	149	(1)
The end of U.S. hegemony	150	(1)
Capital moves around the world	151	(1)
Causes and Consequences of Globalization	151	(4)
The extent of globalization	151	(2)
Technology "shrinks" the globe	153	(1)
The nexus of production and trade	153	(1)
Global finance: The tail wagging the dog?	154	(1)
Competition on a World Scale	155	(4)
United States competitiveness declines	155	(1)
The "new competition"	156	(1)
The race to the bottom	157	(2)
How Global Is Globalization?	159	(3)
CHAPTER 12 Problems and Possibilities	162	(15)
Tradition-Run Societies	162	(1)
Command Societies	163	(1)
Capitalism	163	(1)
Analyzing the Future	164	(1)
Three Major Issues	165	(5)
1. Unemployment	165	(2)
2. Inequality	167	(2)
3. Globalization	169	(1)
Socialism	170	(1)
China tries another route	170	(1)
Western socialism	171	(1)
The Outlook for Capitalism	171	(6)
The drive to accumulate	172	(1)
Ecological overload	172	(1)
The tightening market web	173	(1)
The two sectors	174	(1)
A spectrum of capitalisms	175	(2)
Name Index	177	(4)
Subject Index	181