The Natural Instability of Markets Expectations, Increasing Returns, and the Collapse of Capitalism

by Perelman, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780312221218
• ISBN10: 0312221215
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-06-12
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

As socialist states struggle to transform themselves into market economies and the United States privatizes everything from schooling to policing, the current crises in Russia and East Asia suggest that something might be amiss. In the rush to open societies to the benefits of competition, economists have overlooked the fundamental instability of competitive markets. What had seemed to be an invincible capitalist juggernaut may be reaching its apotheosis. A close look at market economies is more timely and crucial than ever. Michael Perelman argues that capitalism's victory is temporary, based as it is on an unrealistic understanding of the system's inherent risks. He analyzes the nature and causes of crisis within a market society, and along the way, he re-examines one of capitalism's most primary and unquestioned tenets, that the more competition there is, the better off society will be.

Author Biography

Michael Perelman is Professor of Economics at California State University, Chico.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Preface	ix
How Economists Work: A Prelude to the Main Theme of This Book	1	(12)
The Imaginary World of Economic Equilibrium and Stability	13	(14)
Cycles: Stability Within Instability	27	(14)
Instability: Keynes, Schumpeter, Polanyi, and the Passenger Pigeon	41	(16)
Competition in Biology and Competition in Economics	57	(20)
Competition: The Hidden Costs of the Invisible Hand	77	(26)
Managing Competition	103	(22)
A Thumbnail Sketch of the Evolution of Competition in the U.S. Economy	125	(12)
Inertia	137	(24)
Loose Threads	161	(4)
Conclusion	165	(2)
References	167	(16)
Index	183