A01=Kaushik Basu
Activism
Altruism
Ambiguity
Author_Kaushik Basu
Behavioral economics
Bertrand Russell
Bribery
Bureaucrat
Calculation
Capitalism
Category=JBCC9
Category=KCA
Category=KCZ
Coercion
Competition
Consideration
Consumer
Criticism
Developed country
Disadvantage
Economic development
Economic equilibrium
Economic globalization
Economic inequality
Economic interventionism
Economics
Economist
Economy
Employment
Entrepreneurship
eq_bestseller
eq_business-finance-law
eq_isMigrated=0
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Externality
General equilibrium theory
Global governance
Globalization
Household
Ideology
Incentive
Incentive compatibility
Income
Ingredient
Institution
Insurgency
International organization
Invisible hand
Laborer
Law and economics
Lecture
Literature
Mainstream economics
Market economy
Marxian economics
Methodological individualism
Moneylender
Nash equilibrium
Neoclassical economics
Newspaper
Norm (social)
Of Education
Oligarchy
Opportunism
Outsourcing
Pareto efficiency
Pareto principle
Philosopher
Police officer
Political correctness
Political globalization
Politician
Politics
Poverty
Probability
Productivity
Racism
Rational choice theory
Salary
Self-interest
Selfishness
Social science
Society
Subsidy
Suggestion
Tax
Tax rate
Textbook
The Wealth of Nations
Theorem
Theory
Torture
Utility
Vested interest (communication theory)
Wage
Wealth
Welfare
Well-being
World economy
World Trade Organization
Writing
Product details
- ISBN 9780691173696
- Weight: 454g
- Dimensions: 156 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 02 Aug 2016
- Publisher: Princeton University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
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 its conservative popularizers have misrepresented Smith's insight and hampered our understanding of how economies function, why some economies fail and some succeed, and what the nature and role of state intervention might be. Comparing this view of the invisible hand with the vision described by Kafka--in which individuals pursuing their atomistic interests, devoid of moral compunction, end up creating a world that is mean and miserable--Basu argues for collective action and the need to shift our focus from the efficient society to one that is also fair. Using analytic tools from mainstream economics, the book challenges some of the precepts and propositions of mainstream economics.
It maintains that, by ignoring the role of culture and custom, traditional economics promotes the view that the current system is the only viable one, thereby serving the interests of those who do well by this system. Beyond the Invisible Hand challenges readers to fundamentally rethink the assumptions underlying modern economic thought and proves that a more equitable society is both possible and sustainable, and hence worth striving for. By scrutinizing Adam Smith's theory, this impassioned critique of contemporary mainstream economics debunks traditional beliefs regarding best economic practices, self-interest, and the social good.
Kaushik Basu is professor of economics and the C. Marks Professor of International Studies at Cornell University. He is currently chief economic advisor to the Ministry of Finance of the Government of India. His books include Prelude to Political Economy: A Study of the Political and Social Foundations of Economics and Of People, of Places: Sketches from an Economist's Notebook.
