Sheila Dow

Joan Robinson (1903-1983) was one of the greatest economists of the twentieth century and a fearless critic of free-market capitalism. A major figure in the controversial ‘Cambridge School’ of economics in the post-war period, she made fundamental contributions to the economics of international trade and development. In Economic Philosophy Robinson looks behind the curtain of economics to reveal a constant battle between economics as a science and economics as ideology, which she argued was integral to economics. In her customary vivid and pellucid style, she criticizes early economists Adam Smith and David Ricardo, and neo-classical economists Alfred Marshall, Stanley Jevons and Leon Walras, over the question of value. She shows that what they respectively considered to be the generators of value - labour-time, marginal utility or preferences - are not scientific but ‘metaphysical’, and that it is frequently in ideology, not science, that we find the reason for the rejection of economic theories. She also weighs up the implications of the Keynesian revolution in economics, particularly whether Keynes’s theories are applicable to developing economies. Robinson concludes with a prophetic lesson that resonates in today’s turbulent and unequal economy: that the task of the economist is to combat the idea that the only values that count are those that can be measured in terms of money.This Routledge Classics edition includes a new foreword by Sheila Dow.

Joan Robinson (1903-1983) was one of the greatest economists of the twentieth century and a fearless critic of free-market capitalism. A major figure in the controversial ‘Cambridge School’ of economics in the post-war period, she made fundamental contributions to the economics of international trade and development. In Economic Philosophy Robinson looks behind the curtain of economics to reveal a constant battle between economics as a science and economics as ideology, which she argued was integral to economics. In her customary vivid and pellucid style, she criticizes early economists Adam Smith and David Ricardo, and neo-classical economists Alfred Marshall, Stanley Jevons and Leon Walras, over the question of value. She shows that what they respectively considered to be the generators of value - labour-time, marginal utility or preferences - are not scientific but ‘metaphysical’, and that it is frequently in ideology, not science, that we find the reason for the rejection of economic theories. She also weighs up the implications of the Keynesian revolution in economics, particularly whether Keynes’s theories are applicable to developing economies. Robinson concludes with a prophetic lesson that resonates in today’s turbulent and unequal economy: that the task of the economist is to combat the idea that the only values that count are those that can be measured in terms of money.This Routledge Classics edition includes a new foreword by Sheila Dow.

Modern economics has, at its foundation, scholarly contributions from many prominent Scottish thinkers. This revealing work examines the roots of this great tradition, places in perspective a selection of authors, and assesses their contribution over three centuries in the light of a distinctive Scottish approach to economics. Scottish Enlightenment is an established area of research interest, and this volume offers new scholarship on key Enlightenment figures whilst placing emphasis on their approach to economic thought. Smith and Hume are key, but other less familiar, yet important authors are also investigated here, including a murderer, a revolutionary, a medical practitioner and a novelist (John Law, Sir James Stuart, John Rae and Shield Nicholson, respectively).The latest in a prestigious series charting national traditions in the history of economic thought, this important book, an essential read for scholars of economic thought, features contributions from such major historians of economic thought as Andrew Skinner and Antoin Murphy.

Modern economics has, at its foundation, scholarly contributions from many prominent Scottish thinkers. This revealing work examines the roots of this great tradition, places in perspective a selection of authors, and assesses their contribution over three centuries in the light of a distinctive Scottish approach to economics. Scottish Enlightenment is an established area of research interest, and this volume offers new scholarship on key Enlightenment figures whilst placing emphasis on their approach to economic thought. Smith and Hume are key, but other less familiar, yet important authors are also investigated here, including a murderer, a revolutionary, a medical practitioner and a novelist (John Law, Sir James Stuart, John Rae and Shield Nicholson, respectively).The latest in a prestigious series charting national traditions in the history of economic thought, this important book, an essential read for scholars of economic thought, features contributions from such major historians of economic thought as Andrew Skinner and Antoin Murphy.

Economic Methodology: An Inquiry presents a clear and accessible introduction to the methodology of economics. An essential introduction to the subject for those who would like to pursue the more specialist literature, explaining both the role of methodology in assisting economists to address fundamental issues and also the different approaches to methodology that are on offer. The book begins with a discussion of the nature and scope of economics as a discipline and of the issues currently facing it. Dow then goes on to introduce some of the central theoretical and empirical issues in economics and demonstrates the need for methodological awareness in approaching these issues. This is followed by a brief account of the methodological ideas that have influenced economics over the last two centuries and a detailed chapter on current methodological ideas, showing how they are discussed today in the field of economic methodology and how these ideas are related to current practice in economics. The book concludes with a discussion of what economics can reasonably be expected to do and what possible future directions the subject might take. Written in a clear and accessible style with suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter, this book will be the ideal starting point for all those wanting an introduction to the methodology of economics, both as it has developed in the past and as it now stands.