San Antonio College Library

One of the central tenets of mainstream economics is Adam Smith's proposition that, given certain conditions, self-interested behavior by individuals leads them to the social good, almost as if orchestrated by an invisible hand. This deep insight has, over the past two centuries, been taken out of context, contorted, and used as the cornerstone of free-market orthodoxy. In Beyond the Invisible Hand, Kaushik Basu argues that mainstream economics and...

An entertaining and pain-free introduction to the key concepts of economics, by a Financial Times writer, this book is part field guide to economics and part exposé of the economic principles lurking behind daily events. Reporting back from Africa, Asia, Europe, and your local Starbucks, author Harford shows us the world through the eyes of an economist, and reveals that everyday events are in fact intricate games of negotiations, contests of strength,...

Papers from a conference held Aug. 31-Sept. 1, 1987 outside Stockholm, Sweden. Includes bibliographical references (p. 467-471).

The story of James and John Stuart Mill is one of the great dramas of the 19th century. In the bitter yet loving struggle of this extraordinarily influential father and son, we can see the genesis of the revolution of Liberal ideas -- about love, sex and women, wealth and work, authority and rebellion--which ushered in the modern age. In this work, the result of more than a decade of research and reflection, psychohistorian Bruce Mazlish reveals the...

According to neoclassical theory, efficient interaction between the profit-maximizing "ideal producer" and the utility-maximizing "ideal consumer" will eventually lead to some sort of social optimum. But is that social optimum the same as human well-being? Human Well-Being and Economic Goals addresses that topic. It brings together more than 75 concise summaries of the most significant writings that consider issues of present and future individual...