San Antonio College Library

"This book builds on new institutionalist theory in both economics and political science to offer a general political economy framework for the study of welfare capitalism. Based on the key idea that social protection in a modern economy, both inside and outside the state, can be understood as protection of specific investments in human capital, the book offers a systematic explanation of popular preferences for redistributive spending, the economic...

"Everywhere one travels, people are excited about the new high-technology production system. But the global villagers are also perplexed about the social service needs that seem to accompany the high-tech economy: child-care needs for working couples, elder-care facilities for infirm senior citizens, burgeoning health-care costs accompanying high-tech medicine, nursery schools and college tuition costs, and more." "This book explores the various attempts...

The general assumption that social policy should be utilitarian--that society should be organized to yield the greatest level of welfare--leads inexorably to increased government interventions. Historically, however, the science of economics has advocated limits to these interventions for utilitarian reasons and because of the assumption that people know what is best for themselves. But more recently, behavioral economics has focused on biases and...

Vietnam, one of the few Marxist-Leninist states, is still standing. The Communist Party of Vietnam faithfully represents the rights and interests of the working class and the nation. Just over thirty years after the country was devastated by war, leaving between one and two million dead, its economy is storming ahead. In 1993, poverty levels were at 58%; now that figure has dropped to 12%.

The "papers collected in this volume aims to provide an overview of happiness studies to date, with a special emphasis on its relationship with economic thought. This volume discusses the state of the art and the main strands and contributions to the "economics of happiness", as a sub-discipline related to political economy. However, the main thrust of the volume is in focuses on the relationship between happiness studies and economics. Moreover,...

"This book examines how democratic governments manage long-term policy challenges, asking how elected politicians choose between providing policy benefits in the present and investing in the future"-- "In Governing for the Long Term, Alan M. Jacobs investigates the conditions under which elected governments invest in long-term social benefits at short-term social cost. Jacobs contends that, along the path to adoption, investment-oriented policies...

Public choice or rational politics differs from the other approaches to the study of political behavior in that it builds on models in which rational individuals seek to advance their own interests. This five-part volume surveys the main ideas and contributions of the field. Perspectives on Public Choice: A Handbook contains twenty-five essays written by thirty scholars, both economists and political scientists, from North America and Europe.

Noted economist Douglas Vickers reexamines the relationship between economics and moral philosophy. That relationship, once very strong, is again the subject of increasing attention and discussion both within and beyond the academy. Vickers reestablishes the substantial bridges between ethical philosophy and economics. He addresses three main issues: first, the historical means by which economics has consciously surrendered its original association...

Why hasn't the poverty rate fallen in four decades, despite society's massive and varied efforts? The notable philosopher Charles Karelis contends that conventional explanations of poverty rest on a mistake. And so do the antipoverty policies they generate. This book proposes a new explanation of the behaviors that keep people poor, including nonwork, quitting school, nonsaving, and breaking the law. Provocative and thoughtful, it finds a hidden rationality...