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Most economic theory assumes a pure capitalism of perfect competition. Even when it is recognized that this does not exist, many politicians and captains of industry pay a great deal of lip service to the idea of the market. This book goes beyond the rhetoric to explore how, even in the United States, the most capitalist of all countries, the marke
DIVRethinks the history of classical political economy by assessing the Marxian idea of “primitive accumulation,” the process by which a propertyless working class is created./div
Mainstream economics ignores or distorts the most fundamental aspect of this reality: that the vast majority of people must, out of necessity, labor on behalf of others, transformed into nothing but a means to the end of maximum profits for their employers. The nature of the work we do and the conditions under which we do it profoundly shape our lives. And yet, both of these factors are peripheral to mainstream economics. By sweeping labor under the rug, mainstream economists hide the nature of capitalism, making it appear to be a system based upon equal exchange rather than exploitation inside every workplace.
Most economic theory assumes a pure capitalism of perfect competition. Even when it is recognized that this does not exist, many politicians and captains of industry pay a great deal of lip service to the idea of the market. This book goes beyond the rhetoric to explore how, even in the United States, the most capitalist of all countries, the marke
Most economic theory assumes a pure capitalism of perfect competition. This book is a penetrating critique of the rhetoric and practice of conventional economic theory. It explores how even in the United States—the most capitalist of countries—the market has always been subject to numerous constraints. Perelman examines the way in which these constraints have been defended by such figures as Henry Ford, J. P. Morgan, and Herbert Hoover, and were indeed essential to the expansion of U.S. capitalism. In the process, he rediscovers the critical element in conservative thought—the “forgotten traditions of railroad economics”—that has been lost in the neoliberal present. This important and original historical reconstruction points the way to a discipline of economics freed from the mythology of the market.
Leading scholars discuss ideology and hotly contested post-structuralist theory.
In Class Warfare in the Information Age, Michael Perelman reveals how the efforts of business to profit from the sale of information will result in a reduction rather than an increase in access to information. He demonstrates how the treatment of information as a commodity will cause it to be more regulated and less accessible. In the future, Perelman argues, accessing and affording information will still be a class-based privilege, and the rights of individuals will disintegrate as the power of the corporate sector grows. Class Warfare in the Information Age is a refreshingly critical work that forces readers to rethink the conventional hype surrounding the information superhighway.
This book argues that the right-wing revolution in the United States has created deepening inequality and will lead to economic catastrophe. The author makes the case that over the past three decades the rich have confiscated wealth and income from the poor and middle class to a far greater extent than many realize, and he explores in detail important but commonly unmeasured dimensions of inequality. He also takes aim at the economics profession, criticising the analytical blinders that leave economists incapable of seeing the coming crisis.
This book describes how corporate powers have erected a rapacious system of intellectual property rights to confiscate the benefits of creativity in science and culture. This legal system threatens to derail both economic and scientific progress, while disrupting society and threatening personal freedom. Perelman argues that the natural outcome of this system is a world of excessive litigation, intrusive violations of privacy, the destruction system of higher education, interference with scientific research, and a lopsided distribution of income.
Classical Political Economy addresses the question of what determines the social division of labour, the division of society into independent firms and industries and develops the theoretical implications of primitive accumulation. It also offers a significantly different interpretation of classical political economy, demonstrating that this school of thought supported the process of primitive accumulation. Classical political economy presents an imposing facade. For more than two centuries, the accepted doctrine dictates that a market generates forces that provide the most efficient method for organising production. This laissez faire approach is an ideology that gives capital absolute freedom of action, and yet called for intervention to coerce people to do things that they would not otherwise do. Classical political economy therefore encouraged policies that would hinder people's ability to produce for their own needs. Michael Perelman, however, in this innovative take on the subject, seeks to challenge the ideologies that would allow things to continue in this line unchecked.