This book studies the ongoing transition from an industrial to a creative (or post-industrial) society and how the creative society depends on a ‘soft infrastructure’ of individualist values and institutions. It explains this by looking first at the key actors in the creative society: creative individuals and entrepreneurial individuals, using insights from social and cognitive psychology and the economic theory of entrepreneurship. It shows how individual creativity and entrepreneurship a...

In this challenging book, the authors demonstrate that economists tend to misunderstand capital. Frank Knight was an exception, as he argued that because all resources are more or less durable and have uncertain future uses they can consequently be classed as capital. Thus, capital rather than labor is the real source of creativity, innovation, and accumulation. But capital is also a phenomenon in time and in space. Offering a new and path-breaking theory, they show how durable capital wit...

Key features of Austrian economic theory are the use of methodological individualism, the view that entrepreneurs cause development, and the recognition that local knowledge is largely tacit and thus difficult to communicate. The contributors to The Spatial Market Process show how these and other Austrian features provide an alternative foundation for understanding the spatial manifestation of economic phenomena. Many chapters elaborate upon theoretical insights first formulated by F.A. Ha...

For many, Thomas Carlyle's put-down of economics as "the dismal science" rings true--especially in the aftermath of the crash of 2008. But Diane Coyle argues that economics today is more soulful than dismal, a more practical and human science than ever before. The Soulful Science describes the remarkable creative renaissance in economics, how economic thinking is being applied to the paradoxes of everyday life.This revised edition incorporates the latest developments in th...

Kenneth Boulding was a prolific writer across so many different fields that not only is he often much referred to and cited, he is considered a core member of many of these fields. Boulding is the quintessential interdisciplinary scholar. He died in 1993, but he has left a legacy in economics, conflict studies, systems theory, ecology, biology, communication studies, and ethics. As an economist proper he has tested and expanded the boundaries of that field without unduly "invading" and und...

The second edition of Regional Economics provides a comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of regional economics. This fully revised edition includes key theoretical developments of the last ten years.Topics included span from the earliest location theories to the most recent regional growth theories. It is also is also enriched by the recent debate on smart specialization strategies recently developed by the EU for the design of new cohesion policies.Key elements ...

Since becoming formally established with an international academic society in the late 1980s, ecological economics has advanced understanding of the interactions between social and biophysical reality. It initially combined questioning of the basis of mainstream economics with a concern for environmental degradation and limits to growth, but has now advanced well beyond critique into theoretical, analytical and policy alternatives. Social ecological economics and transformation to an alter...

The Changing Face of Economics gives the reader a sense of the modern economics profession and how it is changing. The volume does so with a set of nine interviews with cutting edge economists, followed by interviews with two Nobel Prize winners, Paul Samuelson and Kenneth Arrow, reflecting on the changes that are occurring. What results is a clear picture of today's economics--and it is no longer standard neoclassical economics.The interviews and commentary together demon...

This book provides a blueprint for those interested in teaching from a pluralist perspective, regardless of ideology. It provides educators, policy makers and students with helpful suggestions for implementing pluralism into pedagogy, by offering detailed suggestions and guidelines for incorporating pluralist approaches tailored to specific individual courses. The Handbook for Pluralist Economics Education specifically provides practical suggestions for professors willing to imple...

Borrowing terminology from the economic discipline‘specifically the concept of "capital" has led to an abundance of new terms in the social sciences: human capital, social capital, and cultural capital, to name the most prominent representatives on an ever-growing list. In this interdisciplinary transaction, the concept is borrowed and the original meaning extended until the new concepts often have nothing left in common with their initial referents.Here Jacek Tittenbrun offers a critical ...

What are our obligations towards future generations who stand to be harmed by the impact of today’s environmental crises? This book explores ecological sustainability as a human rights issue and examines what our long-term responsibilities might be.This interdisciplinary collection of chapters provides a basis for understanding the debates on the provision of sustainability for future generations from a diverse set of theoretical standpoints. Covering a broad range of perspectives ...

"Erudite and thought-provoking. . . . a stimulating, historically grounded exploration of the subject . . . rewarding." — Financial TimesA few centuries ago, capitalism set in motion an explosion of economic productivity. Markets and private property had existed for millennia, but what other key institutions fostered capitalism's relatively recent emergence?With Conceptualizing Capitalism, Geoffrey M. Hodgson offers readers a more precise co...