ALBERT

Notes: Recent theories of capitalism concentrate upon the defects of markets. The theories of Karl Polanyi and Bruno Seidel are examined in this article. In a broad survey of economic history since the middle ages, Polanyi concludes that the whole economic market system destroys the substance of society and creates disadvantages for all groups. Yet disintegration was halted through the principle of social protection which comprises all forms of collective economic actions, whether by groups or states. Yet, the author has failed to give a specific market analysis which would indicate how specific disadvantages arise in the process of pricing. The all comprehensive “social protection” contains so many diverse elements that one cannot infer from the principle how interventions have reformed the market system of capitalism.In his analysis of industrialism and capitalism, Seidel sees a conflict between the industrial and capitalist elements of our economy. Capitalist elements have been “tamed”, while we have been unable to control the industrial elements. Modern technology has become independent of capitalist property and markets. Industrialism has been economically beneficial and socially disintegrating. Deconcentration of large concerns and decentralization of large cities are proposed as necessary reforms. Interventions in markets spring from cartels of producers, organizations of farmers, unions of laborers, and the interference of states. The multitude of interventions is developing into a planned capitalism. The result of these interventions has been a greater degree of equality in the economic and social relationships among men. Control of capitalism was achieved through introducing social-ethical principles into the economy.The newer version of the defect theory limits control of the market system to the most recent period, and states some of the reasons why organized groups control their markets. The theory of social protection is limited in its scope; its economic, political and social impact upon capitalism is traced in detail. Yet missing is still a theory of deficient markets as well as of controlled markets. The future task of economic research is to provide an analysis of the different market sectors controlled by groups, of the monopoly of concentrated property, of the specific nature of social protection, and the economic role of big government in controlled capitalism.

Notes: Jean-Pierre DE Bodt. La formation des prix.Derek Curtis Bok.The First Three Years of the Schuman PlanP. J. Bouman. Einführung in die Soziologie.Fritz Croner. Die Angestellten in der modernen Gesellschaft.Werner Hofmann.Wohin steuert die Sowjetwirtschaft?W. A. JÖhrand H. W. Singer. The Role of the Economist as Official Adviser.Kenneth K. Kurihara(ed.). Post-Keynesian Economics.Ben Lehbert. Entwicklungstendenzen in der westeuropäischen EnergiewirtschqftW. Arthur Lewis.The Theory of ‘Economic Growth.Edward Nevin. The Mechanism of Cheap Money.Jan A. Richmond. Roman Britain.Giorgio Roletto. La costruzione economica sovietica: formazione, struttura, tenderize.Clarence Seniorand Douglas Manley.A Report on Jamaican Migration to Great Britain.Walter A. Weisskopf. The Psychology of Economics.Charles Wolf, Jr., and SidneyC. Sufrin. Capital Formation and Foreign Investment in Underdeveloped Areas.

Notes: New Aspects of Price and Production Theory. Despite recent progress, price and production theory is still inadequate, because it is not applicable to the management of business enterprises and it cannot be used in macro-economic models. What is needed is not the refinement of a few special points in the theory, which suffers from the defect of narrowness, but rather an effort to extend its scope, particularly in the following respects:(a) Investigation of such relations as may exist between markets or between industries;(b) Specification of the production functions;(c) The working-out of a theory of organisations, which would make it possible to grasp and express, in simple terms, the differences that are to be expected in the behaviour of a co-operative society and a share company, a trust and a cartel a free and a dependent enterprise, etc.;(d) Investigation of cases falling somewhere between a duopoly and a polypoly— the only forms which really exist—detailed treatment being given to the possible reactions of enterprisers (price changes, advertisements, participations etc.), and the result being systematised on the basis of a new logical principle, which, to all appearance, can only be the one underlying the theory of games.It looks as if we are now upon the brink of such an extension of the theory. This would constitute the second “revolution” of the price and production theory. The book Business Concentration and Price Policy reviews the stage now reached by research with regard to a large number of important points, such as:- the concept of industry,- investigation of yields,- the extent of concentration and degree of integration of business firms,- the incidence of taxes,- the tactics of imperfect competition,- the relations between markets.Although it suffers from want of systematic arrangement, the book nevertheless supplies a great many data necessary for the elaboration of a general theory.

Notes: Fictitious Centralism in large enterprises. In order that each of the threads of an increasingly complicated business enterprise may be kept in hand, they are all actually made to converge at the highest level. But this centralisation is fictitious; for, in reality, it leads to an overburdening of the man at the top, who is thus rendered incapable of performing his proper function—namely, to take decisions. Instead, he becomes the weakest link in the routine.Imperfect delegation, i. e., the delegation of matters for treatment without simultaneous surrender of competence, condemns those in the middle grade to subaltern standing, in which they too are unable to take any decision or assume the responsibility that goes with the taking of decisions. The typical result is that nobody decides, that—to exaggerate slightly—the life of an industrial concern is controlled not by definite volition but by the law of cause and effect.Imperfect delegation is one of the causes of the hypertrophy and sluggishness of the internal bureaucracy of business concerns. The fact of clinging to theoretical powers which in reality are not exercised has, for instance, the result that the modern forms of accounting practice not only fail to give the internal life of a big enterprise the elasticity and commerciality which they quite well could have given it, but, instead, lead to a multiplication of bureaucratic processes.The negative effects of the fictitious centralism which distinguishes the industrial system from the great organisations of the past (e. g. the ancient polis and the feudal state, both of which tended to delegate too many rather than too few functions) are certainly well known, yet it seems impossible to overcome it. This fact is only to be explained in the light of the history of ideas (“Geistesgeschichte”). From his predecessor, the capitalistic entrepreneur, the present-day manager has taken over the automatic equation of what he does with work, and the consequent justification of his social position in his own eyes and those of society. This attitude, which was alien to most of the leading groups in history, prevents him from extricating himself from the vicious circle which he has got into as the result of fictitious centralism.

Notes: Hans Albert. Ökonomische Ideologic und politische Theorie.Maurice Allais. Traité d'économic pure.Egon Ernest Bergel. Urban Sociology.Adolf A. Berle, Jr. The Twentieth-Century Capitalist Revolution.RenÉ D. Bollier. Die These einer chronischen Dollarknappheit.FranÇois Boudot. La coopération en FranceArnold Gehlen. Urmensch und Spätkultur.H. D. Henderson.The Inter-War Years and Other Papers.Jean Marchal. Cours d'économie politique.Jacques Milleron. Étude sur l'économie espagnole.Eugene Rotwein(Ed.): David Hume — Writings on Economics.Peter Scherrer. Die Terms of Trade und die Beschäftigung.Hans JÜrgen Seraphim. Theorie der allgemeinen Volkswirtschaftspolitik.Hans Thorelli. The Federal Antitrust Policy: Origination of an American Tradition.W. S. Woytinsky and E. S. Woytinsky. World Commerce and Governments - Trends and Outlook.

Notes: AllanM. Cartter. The Redistribution of Income in Postwar BritainKarlW. Deutsch. Nationalism and Social Communication: An Inquiry into the Foundations of NationalityPierre Samuel Du Pont DE NemoursOn Economic CurvesThe Economic Development of MalayaJ. Goudriaan. Economie in 16 bladzijdenDouglas C. Hague and Alfred W. Stonier. The Essentials of EconomicsBert G. Hickman. The Korean War and United States Economic Activity, 1950–1952C. Hildreth and F. G. Jarrett. A Statistical Study of Livestock Production and MarketingDon D. Humphrey. American ImportsEmile James. Histoire sommaire de la pensée économiqueEmile James. Histoire de la pensée économique au XXe StècleNicholas Kaldor. An Expenditure TaxPaul Keller. Dogmengeschichte des wohlstandspolitischen InterventionismusHarvey Leibenstein. A Theory of Economic-Demographic DevelopmentFriedrich A. Lutz. Das Problem der WirtschafsprognosenWilliam Petersen. Planned Migration—The Social Determinants of the Dutch-Canadian MovementVilles et campagnes—Civilisation urbaine et civilisation rurale en FranceWilliam L. Westermann. The Slave Systems of Greek and Roman Antiquity

Notes: The fact has been widely recognized that the present stagnation of social sciences is fraught with dangers for the physical existence of humanity. This premise being accepted, the article sets out to discover the factors hampering the development of social sciences. These, it is here suggested, have three sources: (1) the nature of the subject of enquiry; (2) the nature of the empiric method and (3) the limited applicability of the present-day social sciences to the life of the private individual.The difficulties attributable to the first source are two: the high degree of differentiation in human psychology and the inventive capacity of the human mind. Both of them have the effect of creating a pattern of behaviour distinguished by great variety and rapidity of change. Ensuing, to some extent, from the other two is the third characteristic, namely the fact that some of our lines of behaviour are incapable of being measured quantitatively. Under such conditions, the task of scientific analysis is obviously extremely difficult, and this accounts for the strong “post-ante” bias inherent in most of our present-day social sciences.The empirical method of analysis, so much in vogue at present, has contributed two additional difficulties of its own. These are: taxonomic approach and anti-normative inclination. The former is another way of saying that, unlike their predecessors in the 18th and 19th centuries, which operated on the implied assumption of the perennial uniformity of human behaviour, the present-day social sciences have adopted the method of dealing with each situation as a unique case. Consequently, the “social laws” derived from this procedure have only a limited validity.It was the very simplicity of the social sciences of the preceding two centuries that made them popular and gave them an influence over the actual shaping of public life, and, incidentally, it is the lack of such simplicity that so effectually prevents the social sciences of today from winning popularity. For it is manifest that, in the present state of social knowledge, an extremely important aim of social science—probably the most important of all its aims—namely, to help the individual to form a comprehensive and consistent outlook on life, is a dream of the very distant future.But, however formidable the difficulties in this field may be, the need for the social sciences of our day to produce a coherent synthesis is most pressing. This is so because of (1) the decline in the influence of religion, (2) the increasing capacity of man for self-destruction and (3) the existence of sharp political conflict between the communist and non-communist worlds. This necessity being admitted, a further problem arises. It is a question of popularizing the social sciences. For, assuming that our social sciences are, or will shortly be, capable of serving as a guide to the understanding of social life, it is obvious that unless such knowledge is widely spread it will remain useless. Here the main stumbling-block is the low earning power of social sciences. Thus it would appear that the prospects of solving the problems connected with the relative underdevelopment of our social knowledge are by no means hopeful.

Notes: Measurement of the supply and demand relationship, as a technique for studying the prime causes of business cycles. The student of economic instability encounters a double problem: How to enable the businessman to maximize his profit? And, how to insure that profit maximization tends to synchronize supply and demand? This second phase of the problem has scarcely been studied, and could not be resolved with presently available means of observation. Hence, the need for a method to measure the supply and demand relationship.A distinction should be established between two kinds of supply and demand equality: apparent equality, produced by price movements—and real, underlying equality, presumed to result from price movements but much more difficult to verify. This discussion is confined to the real relationship.No one has yet established for certain whether the concept of real equality has any meaning whatever. It needs to be defined. This is the proposed definition: The supply really equals the demand only when the price at which goods sell equals their economic value. That definition is predicated upon the existence of a standard of the economic value of goods. But even economic value has not yet been endowed with a usable definition. It must be defined in terms of production costs uninfluenced by competition on the various markets. This necessitates the assumption of a hypothetical economy. The definition reads: The standard of the economic value of goods is the price at which these goods would tend to sell if they, as well as all other goods, were produced and marketed exclusively to order. By introducing the standard of economic value into the earlier definition of supply and demand equality, one arrives at the formula: The supply really equals the demand only when goods sell at the price at which they would tend to sell if they, as well as all other goods, were produced and marketed exclusively to order.The hypothetical nature of the yardstick proposed here forbids direct measurement of the real supply and demand relationship. Some indirect measurements are not, however, beyond our reach. But, more important than the concrete measurement of any particular real relationship is the abstract measurement whereby the new concept of real equality can be defined in mathematical terms. That definition is both necessary and sufficient to establish the link between prime factors causing business cycles.

Notes: In this paper it has been argued that a comparison between Schumpeter's entrepreneur type and a charismatic leader developed by Max Weber discloses certain factors that can be utilized to make the Schumpeterian construct a more useful conceptual tool.Both Schumpeter and Weber were faced with very similar analytical problems, In each case it was necessary to explain how the dynamics of change could be encompassed within a functional system. In each case a disturbing force was introduced. Schumpeter called his the entrepreneur—Weber's designation was the charismatic leader. Schumpeter attempted to make the entrepreneur endogenous to the system he was attempting to explain. Weber's type was frankly exogenous to any system. The strength of Schumpeter's position was that he could explain in some measure how the entrepreneur could be nurtured. The weaknesss was that the type never remained completely endogenous to the capitalism to which Schumpeter related it.If the entrepreneur-type is viewed as a sub-type of the Weberian charismatic leader certain analytical advantages can be realized. The Weberian type is a generalized one that may take a number of forms. The Schumpeterian type is specific and is dependent upon certain objective conditions for it to emerge. In this paper it has been argued that the minimum essentials for the emergence of the entrepreneur-type from the more generalized type are the following: (1) accessible resources, (2) large markets, (3) an independent banking system, (4) consumer choice, and (5) calcuable law. There is no plea made for the values that may underlie the attainment of these objective conditions but that merely if charisma is to be channeled into entrepreneurship, rather than any of the other numerous paths it may take, then these conditions as they have been explained must be present.A better understanding of the significance and the usefulness of Weber's type can be gained to the extent that a large variety of other sub-types are constructed and the objective conditions for their operation explored. In this way, it is argued, the significance not only of Weber's type can be better understood but the value of Schumpeter's entrepreneur may be realized both as it stands by itself and as it is supported by a variety of other types. The policy implications of this kind of analysis seem particularly important in a world characterized not only by great change but by a wide variety of conditions that may channel charisma into as wide a variety of directions.

Notes: The vigorous movement towards raising the levels of economic performance and consumption in the underdeveloped areas has become one of the central economic issues of our time. But so far no satisfactory theory has been constructed to explain this movement, its implications and effects.The starting-point for any attempt to construct a theory of development in underdeveloped countries must be an analysis of the major factors and conditions responsible for economic growth in Western countries. These are: (1) capital formation of an impressive magnitude, as a continuous process increasing in breadth and intensity and including the formation of intellectual capital. The introduction of mechanical means of production was of paramount importance in this process, because it radically changed the rate of progress; (2) operation of effective incentives either in the form of material rewards (profits) or spiritual inducements or both; (3) availability of an expanding market to absorb the rising flow of goods; (4) tendency for a balanced ratio to be maintained between population growth and economic growth; (5) a succession of scientific discoveries and a readiness on the part of entrepreneurs and technicians to utilise them for the continual improvement of techniques of production; (6) apolitical regime and a social order conducive to economic development. Since several of these factors either do not obtain at all in underdeveloped countries, or obtain only partially, a theory of economic development built on the cornerstones of economic growth in the West would not fit conditions in underdeveloped countries.The gradual change to an independent existence with higher standards of living and higher levels of economic performance is being brought about by a transfer of means and techniques of economic development from outside through a process of implantation. In place of the incentives which served in the Western world and which are not reproduced to the extent required to stimulate a comprehensive process of development in the immediate future, substitutes are in operation. Modern nationalism is one of the motive forces of economic development in underdeveloped countries. On the same plane is the acceptance of entrepreneurial functions by governmental agencies.The progress in transferability of modern techniques of production has immensely facilitated the promotion of up-to-date processes of production and distribution in underdeveloped countries also. Finally, a difference is to be noted in the economic mechanism by which the various elements of the socio-economic process are geared together and kept in motion.

Notes: The historian assumes the obligation to make a synthesis of all of man's activities and has therefore a larger responsability than the social scientists in their various fields of knowledge. It is difficult to identify a social science approach to history or a distinctive social science method or procedure. At least the report of the Committee on Historiography which contains a lengthy discussion of the proper method in the social sciences does not successfully differentiate it from the method of the so-called exact sciences. One of the serious problems confronting the historian is how to acquire the best current knowledge available in the social sciences. Indeed to do so necessitates learning the technical languages which have been developed in these complex and rapidly expanding fields of knowledge, especially since one of the languages now regularly employed is mathematics on a higher level than is normally reached by historians. There also remains the more fundamental problem of whether or not the findings and procedures in one highly developed branch of knowledge can be fruitfully or justifiably applied in another field. Disastrous examples to the contrary are easy to locate.Two types of historical problem on which the historian needs and would welcome assistance from the social scientist are (I) what has been the effect in history of the change in psychological experience that occurred when so large a proportion of the population grew up in a one or two child family instead of a five or six child family? (2) What are the changes in political and social history resulting from the fact that so large a proportion of the population are now employees instead of being independent economic units? The danger of social science history is that if abused or distorted it may dehumanize history. There is poetry in life. And the history, or science, that omits the poetry from life is both untrue and dangerous.

Notes: Glerhard Albrecht. Sozialpolitik.Pierre Dieterlen. Quelques enseignements de l'évolution monétaire française de 1948 à 1952. Wirtschaft und Kultursystem.Leonhard Gleske. Die Liquidität in der Kreditwirtschaft.Eduard Heimann. Vernunftglaube und Religion in der modernen Gesellschaft; Liberalismus, Marxismus und Demokratie. The Economic Development of Nigeria.Hans Neisser and Franco Modigliani. National Incomes and International Trade.Hans Peter. Gutachten zu Grundfragen eines Gesetzes gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen.B. Schrieke. Indonesian Sociological Studies.Salahaddin Sözeri. Der Wirtschaftsaufbau der Türkei nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg.H.M.H.A. Van Der Valk. The Economic Future of Canada.Walter G. Waffenschmidt. Technik und Wirtschaft der Gegenwart.John P. Windmuller. American Labor and the International Labor Movement, 1940 to 1953.Edward Nevin. The Problem of the National Debt.

Notes: Das eigentliche Geschäft des Okonomen ist nicht, die miserable Wirklichkeit zu erklären, sondern sie zu verbessern. Die Frage nach dem besten Standort ist ungleich würdiger als die Feststellung des tatsächlichen.Die räumliche Ordnung der Wirtschaft.

Notes: Austrian business cycle policy was unconventional but rather successful in the last three decades and especially since the oil crisis. The unconventional conception was developed by trial and error, only ex post it got the name Austro-Keynesianism. Nevertheless it has a theoretical basis, a rather radical interpretation of KEYNES, which bases economic instability on a deep-rooted uncertainty of entrepreneurs. According to this interpretation economic policy tried to stabilize the data most important for entrepreneurial decisions, especially wage increase, exchange rates and investment promotion. This lightened the burden of the traditional instruments of stabilization policy. In addition these instruments were assigned differently: Exchange rate policy was primarily used to stabilize prices in the short run, incomes policy to equilibrate the current account in the medium and longer run, fiscal policy to stabilize employment. While the new assignation proved useful for stabilization policy, some structural problems remained unsolved.

Notes: KENNETH J. ARROW, LEONID HURWICZ and HIROFUMI UZAWA. Studies in Linear and Non-Linear Programming. (Stanford Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences, n.) Stanford, California, 1958.FRITZ BAADE. Die deutsche Landwirtschaft im Gemeinramen Markt (Germany's Agriculture and the Common Market). Baden-Baden 1958. August Lutzeyer. 232 pp. 19.80 DMALICE BOURNEUF. Norway: The Planned Revival. (Harvard Economic Studies, Vol. CVI.) Cambridge, Mass., 1958.RALF DAHRENDORF. Homo Sociologicus. Ein Versuch zur Geschichte, Bedeutung und Kritik der Kategorie der sozialen Rolle. Koln und Opladen 1959. Westdeutscher Verlag. 72 p. DM 4.J. P. DAVISON, P. S. FLORENCE, B. GRAY, and N. S. Ross. Productiuity and Economic Incentives. London 1958. Allen & Unwin. 306 pp. 35s.FELIKS GROSS. The Seizure of Political Power in a Centuv of Revolutions. New York 1958. Philosophical Library. XXVII, 398 S.JAMES M. HENDERSON and RICHARD E. QUANDT. Microeconomic Theory: A Mathematical Approach. New York/Toronto/London, I 958. McGraw-Hill. XXII, 291 pp. 58s.W. G, HOFFMANN. The Growth of Industrial Economies. Manchester 1958. Manchester University Press. IX, 179 pp. 25s.HERBERT KOTTER. Landbevolkerung im sozialen Wandel (Rural Population and Social Change). Ein Beitrag zur liindlichen Soziologie. Diisseldorf 1958. Eugen Diederichs Verlag. 183 pp. 13.80 DMROBERT M. LICHTENBERG. The Role of Middleman Transactions in IVorld Trade. National Bureau of Economic Research, Occasional Paper No. 64. New York 1959. XVI, 86 pp. $1.50INGVAR SVENNILSON. Prospects of Development in Western Europe, 1955–1975. Stockholm 1959. The Industrial Institute for Economic and Social Research. 85 pp. (stencil.)SHIGETO TSURU. Essays on Japanese Economy. Tokyo 1958. Kinokuniya Bookstore. 241 pp.ERNEST W. WILLIAMS, Jr. and GEORGE NOVAK. Freight Transportation in the Soviet Union: A Comparison with the United States. New York I 959. National Bureau of Economic Research, Occasional Paper 65. 38 PP. $0.75A. J. YOUNGSON. Possibilities of Economic Progress. London I 959. Cambridge University Press. x, 325 pp. 32s. 6d.The Development of Manufacturing Industry in Egypt, Israel and Turkey. United Nations, Department of Economic Affairs.

Notes: Josef Siegl. Franz von Baader — Ein Bild seines Lebens und Wirkens. MüUnchen 1957. Bayerischer Schulbuch-Verlag. 107 S. 8.50 DM Franzm von Baader. Gesellschaftslehre. Ausgewählt, eingeleitet und mit Texthinweisen von Hans Grassl. MüUnchen 1957. Kösel-Verlag. 332 S. 18.80 DMAlfred Bonné. Studies in Economic Development. (International Library of Sociology and Social Reconstruction.) London 1957. Routledge. X, 294 p. 32s.Edward H. Chamberlin. The Economic Analysis of Labor Union Power. Washington, D.C., 1958. American Enterprise Association. 46 p. $1.-G. C. Field. Political Theory. London 1956. Methuen. 314 p. 18s.Seymour E. Harris. International and Interregional Economics. (Economic Handbook Series.) New York/Toronto/London 1957. McGraw-Hill, XIV, 564 p. $ 7.-Reinhold Henzler. Die Genossenschaft, eine föUrdernde Betriebswirt-schaft. Essen 1957. Girardet. 228 S. sFr. 22.60Giancarlo Mazzocchi. Risparmio e ciclo economico, con particolare riguardo al risparmio contrattuale private. Milano 1957. GiuffrèG. 168 p. L. 1200.-S. Daniel Neumark. Economic Influences on the South African Frontier, 1652–1836. Food Research Institute, Stanford University. Stanford University Press, 1957. XIII, 196 p. $5.-Alexander RüUstow. Ortsbestimmung der Gegenwart, Bd. III; Herrschaft oder Freiheit. Erlenbach-ZüUrich und Stuttgart 1957. Eugen Rentsch Verlag. 728 S. Lw. sFr. 34.20R.J. Saulnier, Harold G. Halgrow, and Neil H. Jacoby. Federal Lending and Loan Insurance. Princeton University Press for National Bureau of Economic Research. Princeton 1958. XXX, 566 p. $12.-Nicolas Spulber. The Economics of Communist Eastern Europe. New York 1957. The Technology Press and John Wiley & Sons, XXVII, 525 p. $12.50

Notes: Robert Cooley Angell Free Society and Moral Crisis. Ann ArborMary Jean Bowman (Ed.). Expectations, Uncertainty and Business BehaviourAlfred Bürgin. Geschichte des Geigy-Unternehmens von 1758 bis 1939. Ein Beitrag zur Basler Unternehmer- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte (Ver-öffentlichung zum 200 jährigen Bestehen des Geigy-Unternehmens)Armand Cuvillier. Sociologie et problèmes actuelsWilma Donahue, Woodrow W. Hunter, Dorothy H. Coons and Helen K.Maurice (Eds.). Free Time–Challenge to Later Maturity. Ann Arbor 1958Friedrich Engels. The Condition of the Working Class in England. Translated and edited by W. O. Henderson and W. H. ChalonerRUDOLF FREI (ed.). Economic Systems of the West (Wirtschaftssysteme des Westens - Systèmes économiques de ľOccident), Vol. I. (Publications of the List Society, Vol. 6.)ERNST B. HAAS. The Uniting of Europe. Political, Social and Economic Forces 1950–1937. (Published under the auspices of the London Institute of World Affairs.)Georges Hartmann. Konjunktur und Krise- gestern, heute, morgen. Genf 1958G. F. LOEB. Industrialization and Balanced Growth, with special reference to Brazil. Groningen 1957Karl Mannheim. Systematic Sociology. An Introduction to the Study of Society. Hg. von J. S. Erös und W. A. C. Stewart.Gunnar Myrdal. Value in Social Theory. A Selection of Essays on Methodology. Edited by Paul StreetenDieter Oberndörfer. Von der Einsamkeit des Menschen in der modernen amerikanischen Gesellschaft. (The Loneliness of Man in Modern American Society.) Freiburg im Breisgau 1958Mark Perlman. Labor Union Theories in America. Background and DevelopmentRaymond H. Potvin. An Analysis of Labor-Management Satisfaction within the Enterprise Councils of Belgian Industry. Washington D. C. 1958Melvin W. Reder. Labor in a Growing EconomyB. C. Roberts. National Wages Policy in War and Peace. London 1958Max Silberschmidt. Amerikas industrielle Entwicklung. Von der Zeit der Pioniere zur Aera von Big BusinessW. G. Waffenschmidt. WirtschaftsmechanikThe Challenge of Development. The Hebrew UniversityGegenwartsprobleme der Agrarökonomie. Dédiéà Fritz Baade pour son 65e anniversaire

Notes: G. C. Allen. Japan's Economic Recovery. London 1958. Oxford University Press. XI, 215 p. 25s.Oskar Anderson. Probleme der statistischen Methodenlehre in den Sozialwissenschaften. Dritte, wesentlich umgearbeitete und erweiterte Auflage. Würzburg 1957. Physica-Verlag. 358 S. 24.50 dmJoe S. Bain. Barriers to New Competition. Cambridge, Mass., 1956. Harvard University Press. 329 p. $5.50Horace Belshaw. Population Growth and Levels of Consumption (with special reference to countries in Asia.) London 1956. Allen & Unwin. XXIX, 223 p. 25s.Mark Blaug. Ricardian Economics: A Historical Study. New Haven 1958. Yale University Press, X, 269 p. $5.–Gregory C. Chow. Demand for Automobiles in the United States. (Contributions to Economic Analysis XIII.) North-Holland Publishing Company. Amsterdam 1957. XI, 110 p. hfl. 10.–Robert Dorfman, Paul A. Samuelson and Robert M. Solow. Linear Programming and Economic Analysis. London 1958. McGraw-Hill. 525 p. 77s. 6d.P. T. Ellsworth. The International Economy (revised ed.). New York 1958. Macmillan. XI, 513 p. $6.75Milton Friedman. A Theory of the Consumption Function. National Bureau of Economic Research. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1957. XVI 243 P. $4.75John Jewkes, David Sawers et Richard Stillerman. The Sources of Invention. Londres 1958. Macmillan. 440 p. 31 s. 6d.William F. Kennedy. Humanist Versus Economist. The Economic Thought of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Berkeley and Los Angeles 1958. University of California Press. 96 p. $2.–Francesco Kneschaurek. Die nationale Buchhaltung unter Berücksichtigung ihrer Anwendungsmöglichkeiten in der Schweiz. Zürich und St. Gallen 1958. Polygraphischer Verlag. 212 S. sFr. 27.45Heinrich Küng. Streiflichter zur schweizerischen Wirtschaftspolitik. (Veröffentlichungen der List Gesellschaft ≪ Stimmen der Praxis ≫, Band 1.) Zweite, erweiterte Auflage. Kyklos-Verlag, Basel, und Mohr (Paul Siebeck), Tübingen 1958. 239 S. 9.80 dmFran¸ois Le Lionnais (Hg.). La méthode dans les sciences modernes. Paris 1958. Editions Science et Industrie. 344 S. fFr. 3000.–R. Duncan Luce and Howard Raiffa. Games and Decisions—Introduction and Critical Survey. New York 1957. Wiley. 509 p. $8.75James E. Meade. The Control of Inflation. Cambridge, England, 1958. Cambridge University Press. 52 p. 5s.T. H. Pear. Personality, Appearance and Speech. London 1957. Allen & Unwin. 167 p.Joco Radakovié (ed.). Privreda FNRJ u periodu od 1947–1956 godine. (The development of the Yugoslav economy 1947–1956.) Beograd 1957. Ekonomski Institut fnrj. 396 p.

Notes: Fictitious Centralism in large enterprises. In order that each of the threads of an increasingly complicated business enterprise may be kept in hand, they are all actually made to converge at the highest level. But this centralisation is fictitious; for, in reality, it leads to an overburdening of the man at the top, who is thus rendered incapable of performing his proper function—namely, to take decisions. Instead, he becomes the weakest link in the routine.Imperfect delegation, i. e., the delegation of matters for treatment without simultaneous surrender of competence, condemns those in the middle grade to subaltern standing, in which they too are unable to take any decision or assume the responsibility that goes with the taking of decisions. The typical result is that nobody decides, that—to exaggerate slightly—the life of an industrial concern is controlled not by definite volition but by the law of cause and effect.Imperfect delegation is one of the causes of the hypertrophy and sluggishness of the internal bureaucracy of business concerns. The fact of clinging to theoretical powers which in reality are not exercised has, for instance, the result that the modern forms of accounting practice not only fail to give the internal life of a big enterprise the elasticity and commerciality which they quite well could have given it, but, instead, lead to a multiplication of bureaucratic processes.The negative effects of the fictitious centralism which distinguishes the industrial system from the great organisations of the past (e. g. the ancient polis and the feudal state, both of which tended to delegate too many rather than too few functions) are certainly well known, yet it seems impossible to overcome it. This fact is only to be explained in the light of the history of ideas (“Geistesgeschichte”). From his predecessor, the capitalistic entrepreneur, the present-day manager has taken over the automatic equation of what he does with work, and the consequent justification of his social position in his own eyes and those of society. This attitude, which was alien to most of the leading groups in history, prevents him from extricating himself from the vicious circle which he has got into as the result of fictitious centralism.

Notes: First the article points out the excellence and the limitations of Professor Ashton's volume of a new economic history of England and gives his definition of its task: to find answers to the questions which economists ask or should ask of the past. What are these questions and can they be answered for England in the eighteenth century? The problems of economic growth: An adequate treatment of these would require a fuller picture and a more complete analysis of English society between 1700 and 1800 than Professor Ashton permits himself. The structure of the book tends to lean towards questions of economic organisation without much reference to long-term change and recent controversies among economists. The social consequences of industrialization are of much interest to the general historian and the politician, but they are similarly handled with a marked economy of discussion. The old melodramatic history of the Industrial Revolution is discarded here, but the picture of a society in process of violent economic change remains undrawn; this is perhaps to be done in a later volume.Professor Ashton's book represents a reaction against old general views but avoids the substitution of new ones. The present position of economic history calls however not only for a critique of interpretations, but also for reinterpretation. The special difficulty of economic history lies in the need somehow to reconcile the economist's and sociologist's need to analyse in terms of general concepts with the historian's duty to recreate from original sources the unique historical situation which it is his wish to narrate and to explain.

Notes: Charles Albro Barker. Henry George. New York 1955. Oxford University Press, XVII, 696 p. $9.50. Soviet Economic Growth - Conditions and Perspectives. Abram Bergson, Editor. Evanston, Illinois, and White Plains, N. Y., 1953. Row, Peterson, VIII, 376 p.EdwinA. Bock. Fifty Years of Technical Assistance. Some Administrative Experiences of U. S. Voluntary Agencies. Chicago 1954. Public Administration Clearing House, X, 65 p. $1.50.NormanS. Buchananand HowardS. Ellis. Approaches to Economic Development. New York 1955. Twentieth Century Fund, XIV, 493 p. $5.00.E. M. Carus-Wilson. Medieval Merchant Venturers: Collected Studies. London 1954. Methuen. XXXII, 314 p. 30s.Harold C. Edey et Alan T. Peacock, National Income and Social Accounting. London 1954. Hutchinson's University Library, VIII, 224 p. 8s 6d.Maurice Halbwachs. Esquisse d'une psychologie des classes sociales. Paris 1955. Librairie Marcel Rivière. 238 p. ffr. 540.W. O. Henderson. Britain and Industrial Europe 1750-1870. Studies in British Influence on the Industrial Revolution in Western Europe. Liverpool 1954. University Press, VII, 255 p. 25s.Bruno Kiesewetter. Statistiken zur Wirtschaft Ost-und Südosteuropas. Teil I: Industrie, Teil II: Landwirtschaft. Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Sonderhefte N. F. Nr. 33. Berlin 1955. Duncker & Humblot. 48 und 44 S. DM 7.50 und DM 7.20. Les ↞Sciences de la Politique↠ aux Etats-Unis; Domaines et Techniques. Recueil d'études sous la direction de Harold D. Lasswellet Daniel Lerner. Paris 1951. Armand Colin, XVI, 305 p.Ashok Mitra. The Share of Wages in National Income. 113 p., no publisher or price.Vilfredo Pareto. Allgemeine Soziologie. Ausgewählt, eingeleitet und übersetzt von Carl Brinkmann, besorgt von Hans Wolfram Gerhard. Tübingen 1955. J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck). IX, 263 S., Brosch. DM 17. -, Lw. DM 19. 80.Kjeld Philip. Inter-Governmental Fiscal Relations. Institute of Economics and History, Copenhagen 1954. Einar Munksgaard. 171 p.Robert Redfield. The Little Community. Chicago 1955. University of Chicago Press. 182 p. $4.00.Fritz Sternberg. Marx und die Gegenwart. Entwicklungstendenzen in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Köln 1955. Verlag für Politik und Wirtschaft. 388 S.

Notes: Political Economy—today. While fully appreciating the functions and achievements of pure theory and of econometrics, the writer considers it necessary to bear in mind those elements of our science which the classical economists, Friedrich List and Karl Marx called “political economy”. In agreement with Kuznets and others, he postulates a transition from the theory of the market-economy to an economy which is capable of dealing adequately with the problems of economic growth, and he gives some examples of the functions of a political economy in our day. Reference is made to such questions as development of under-developed countries, the drawing-up of a national economic budget, reform of the international monetary system, and trade-cycle policy (Konjunkturpolitik). Special emphasis is laid on the need to distinguish between a western and an eastern world economy, since this alone makes it possible to comprehend the difference in the division of industry and labour, the difference in general structure and the difference in susceptibility to crises. The writer also draws attention to the political prerequisites of any economic integration of Europe, since this will become possible only if there is retrenchment of exaggerated rights of sovereignty. A return, along these lines, to the principles of a political economy suited to the times is all the more urgent in that, as the writer pointed out in an earlier article (cf. Kyklas, Vol. VIII, 1955, No. 1, p. 1 ff.), we are about to enter upon a new stage of the industrial revolution, and one which is likely to be much wider in scope than even its nineteenth-century predecessor.

Notes: Implications of inefficiency in theories of market failure reveal a flawed methodology. Behavior which is apparently inefficient is actually the symptom of an inappropriate analytical model. The standard examples of market failure, monopoly power and external effects, are forthcoming only from models which omit transactions costs as explanatory variables. The unfortunate consequence of this conclusion is that complete and appropriate economic models, which incorporate all relevant variables, will always certify any behavior as efficient. This poses the ‘Panglossian dilemma’, that whatever is, is optimal. This dilemma is resolved by an analytical approach which compares behavior under alternative economic institutions. This analysis depends on two propositions: that transactions costs are affected by alternative institutional environments; and that institutions are themselves responses to the existence of transactions costs. These propositions are used to predict behavior under alternative institutions, and to explain the long run evolution of the institutions.

Notes: Empirical evidence does not agree with the investment-model of the demand for education: out of pocket costs have another impact than earnings foregone. This difference can be explained by consumption motives. The demand for education is then greater, the full price of education exceeds discounted future incremental earnings, net discounted wealth is not maximum and the rate of return to marginal investments in education is smaller than the interest rate.

Notes: At the turn of this century WESLEY C. MITCHELL argued that the velocity of money could be influenced by a noneconomic variable that he called ‘confidence’; but the idea has received little attention since then. This study uses events in the long Vietnam war for statistically demonstrating the MITCHELL hypothesis. U. S. troop presence in South Vietnam boosted the peoples' confidence in their country's future thereby stabilizing the demand for fiat money and income velocity. Only two variables - the previous year's rate of inflation and U. S. troop strength, which serves as a proxy for battlefield victories - are needed to explain movements in velocity.

Notes: Al-Shaikhly, Salah (ed.): Development Financing.Bombach, G.; Netzband, K.-B.; Ramser, H.-J. und Timmermann, M. (Hrsg.): Der Keynesianismus III.De Jong, H. W. (ed.): The Structure of European IndustryDesai, Meghnad: Testing MonetarismDiekmann, Jochen: Kontrctkttheoretische ArbeitsmarktmodelleDunning, John H.: International Production and the Multinational EnterpriseEliasson, Gunnar and SÖdersten, Jan (eds.): Business Taxation, Finance and Firm Behavior.Gandolfo, Giancarlo: Qualitative Analysis and Econometric Estimation of Continuous Time Dynamic ModelsGiersch, Herbert (ed.): Macroeconomic Policies for Growth and Stability.Heertje, Arnold (ed.): Schumpeter's Vision.Herder-Dorneich, Philipp; Sieben, Gunter und Thiemeyer, Theo (Hrsg.): Beitrdge zur GesundheitsÖkonomie.Herdzina, Klaus: Wirtschaftliches Wachstum, Strukturwandel und WettbewerbHowey, Richard S.: A Bibliography of General Histories of Economics 1692-1975Hutchison, T. W.: The Politics and Philosophy of Economics International Economic Policy Research.Judge, George G.; Hill, R. Carter; Griffiths, William; LÜtkepohl, Helmut and Lee, Tsoung-Chao: Introduction to the Theory and Practice of EconometricsKamien, Morton I. and Schwartz, Nancy L.: Market structure and innovationKornai, JÁnos and Martos, BÉla (eds.): Non-price controlLouven, Erhard : Technologietransfer und angepasste Technologien.Malliaris, A. G. and Brock, W. A.: Stochastic Methods in Economics and FinanceOchel, Wolfgang: Die Entwicklungsländer in der Weltwirtschaft.Panchamukhi, P. R.: Inequality in EducationPatinkin, Don: Essays on and in the Chicago TraditionPrais, S. J.: Productivity and Industrial Structure.Preston, A. J. and Pagan, A. R.: The Theory of Economic Policy.RomÁn, ZoltÁn : Productivity and Economic GrowthRÜrup, Bert und KÖrner, Heiko: Finanzwissenschaft.Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Ent-wicklung: Investieren für mehr Beschäftigung.Schenk, Karl-Ernst: Märkte, Hierarchien und Wettbewerb.Schenk, Karl-Ernst: ≪Institutional Choice〉 und OrdnungstheorieSchneider, Diethard: Monetäre Konzepte der Verstetigungspolitik.Schotter, Andrew: The Economic Theory of Social InstitutionsSchultz, Theodore W.: Investing in People.Shackleton, J. R. and Locksley, Gareth (eds.): Twelve Contemporary Economists.Shone, Ronald: Applications in Intermediate Microeconomics

Notes: Books reviewed in this article.Bender, Dieter et al.: Vahlens Kompendium der Wirtschaftstheorie und Wirtschaftspolitik.Betancourt, Roger R. and Clague, Christopher K.: Capital Utilization.Blankart, Charles Beat und Faber, Monika (Hrsg.): Regulierung öffentlicher Unternehmen.Brune, Heinrich-Gustav : Organisation von Verbraucherinteressen.Charatsis, E. G. (Ed.): Proceedings of the Econometric Society European Meeting 1979.Cooper, Charles : Economic Evaluation and the Environment.Courbis, Raymond (Éd.): Commerce international et modèles multinationaux.Diebold, William Jr.: Industrial Policy as an International Issue.Ekelund, Robert B. Jr. and Tollison, Robert D.: Mercantilism As a Rent-Seeking Society: Economic Regulations in Historical Perspective.Ferber, Robert and Hirsch, Werner Z.: Social Experimentation and Economic Policy.Fisher, Anthony C.: Resource and Environmental Economics.Gottwald, Dietrich: Die dynamische Theorie der Allokation erschöpfbarer Ressourcen.Griffith-Jones, Stephany: The Role of Finance in the Transition to Socialism.GrÜnÄrml, Frohmund: Multinationale Unternehmen, internationaler Handel und monetäre Stabilität.Hudson, John : Inflation.Hueting, Roefie : New Scarcity and Economic Growth.Kornai, JÁnos: Economics of Shortage.Krämer, W.: Eine Rehabilitation der gewöhnlichen Kleinst-Quadrate-Methode als Schätzverfahren in der Ökonometrie.Krohn, Claus-Dieter: Wirtschaftstheorien als politische Interessen.Llewellyn, David T.: International Financial Integration.Minx, Eckard : Von der Liberalisierungs- zur Wettbewerbspolitik.Mooslechner, Peter und Nowotny, Ewald: Gesamtwirtschaftliche Finanzierung und öffentliche Verschuldung.Moss, Scott : An Economic Theory of Business Strategy.Newbery, David M. G. and Stiglitz, Joseph E.: The Theory of Commodity Price Stabilization.Ryll, Edwin: Abschöpfungssystem, Angebotskontingentierung, produktneutrale und produktgebundene staatliche Einkommensübertragungen als agrarmarktpolitische Instrumente.Sauernheimer, Karlhans: Internationale Kapitalbewegungen, flexible Wechselkurse und gesamtwirtschaftliches Gleichgewicht.Shelp, Ronald Kent : Beyond Industrialization.Sid-Ahmed, Abdelkader : Nord-Sud: Les enjeux.Siebert, Horst:. Economics of the Environment.Slawson, W. David : The New Inflation.Stahl, Konrad und Sghulz, Norbert: Mathematische Optimierung und mikroökonomische Theorie.Thimm, Alfred L.: The False Promise of Codetermination.Witt, Ulrich: Marktprozesse.