William Thompson published his Inquiry into the Principles of the Distribution of Wealth in London in 1824. He was an Irish co-operative socialist, a follower of Jeremy Bentham, and a passionate critic of the political economy of his day. He was also, I now believe, one of the most penetrating economic theorists of the nineteenth…
Category: History of Economic Thought
Modern Political Economics: Chapter 6
I continue to read “Modern Political Economy: Making sense of the post-2008 world” by Yanis Varoufakis, Joseph Halevi and Nicholas Theocarakis, published in 2011 by Routledge. Here I discuss Chapter 6. Chapter 6 is a very critical assessment of marginalism and neo-classical economics that came forth from the marginalist “revolution” in economic theorizing in the…
Modern Political Economics: Chapter 5
I continue to read “Modern Political Economy: Making sense of the post-2008 world” by Yanis Varoufakis, Joseph Halevi and Nicholas Theocarakis, published in 2011 by Routledge. Here I discuss Chapter 5. This chapter considers and restates Marxist theories of the classical capitalist economy. Clearly, it continues from the previous chapter. As usual in the Marxist…
Modern Political Economics: Chapter 4
Continuing to read “Modern Political Economy: Making sense of the post-2008 world” by Yanis Varoufakis, Joseph Halevi and Nicholas Theocarakis, published in 2011 by Routledge. In this and next posts I will collect my comments, chapter by chapter. Here I discuss Chapter 4. This chapter starts strangely enough with an excursion into the science fiction…
Modern Political Economics: Chapter 3
I am currently reading “Modern Political Economy: Making sense of the post-2008 world” by Yanis Varoufakis, Joseph Halevi and Nicholas Theocarakis, published in 2011 by Routledge. In this and next posts I will collect my comments, chapter by chapter. Here I discuss Chapter 3. Condorcet’s Secret refers to the fact that the complicated economic organisation…
Modern Political Economics: Chapter 2
I am currently reading “Modern Political Economy: Making sense of the post-2008 world” by Yanis Varoufakis, Joseph Halevi and Nicholas Theocarakis, published in 2011 by Routledge. In this and next posts I will collect my comments, chapter by chapter. Here I discuss Chapter 2. This chapter reiterates the book’s main theme that economics is tainted…