What sets Western economies apart, Hernando de Soto argued in The Mystery of Capital , is not sheer physical stuff. One can have a lot of stuff without having capital. What makes it productive as capital are two “non-economic” factors. The first is imagination: “Capital, like . . . . Continue Reading »
A friend asked me to clarify some comments I made about capitalism in my First Things piece last Friday. Thinking there may be wider interest in the question, I offer a revised version of my answer to him. As a starting point, let me clarify that the term “capitalism” here refers to the . . . . Continue Reading »
How did reciprocal economies become modern economies, dominated so thoroughly by the market? Hans van Wees ( Reciprocity in Ancient Greece , 48) says we don’t really know, and adds that “the introduction of money . . . turns out not to make as much difference as one might have . . . . Continue Reading »
In his contribution to Reciprocity in Ancient Greece (36-7), Hans van Wees asks whether a “reciprocal economy” is subject to the law of supply and demand. His answer is, Yes and No: “When initiating a reciprocal relationship, one might go where the goods one intends to give away . . . . Continue Reading »
Anthropologists claim that in “gift societies” objects exchanged never become the private property of the recipient. We know this even in our own society: We would never think to use a soup tureen from grandma to feed the cat. Gifts impose an obligation to honor the giver. Things bought . . . . Continue Reading »
Unlike many theorists who discuss the gift, Jacques Godbout ( The World of the Gift , 193) does not believe that is should “drown” everything, especially markets: “That would not only be impossible but also very harmful, for a great society (statistically speaking) needs the state . . . . Continue Reading »
A few quotations from the opening pages of Karl Bucher’s Industrial evolution; . Economic theory begins from the assumption that human beings have an “economic nature,” and that “From this economic nature a principle is supposed to spring, which controls all his actions that . . . . Continue Reading »
Among the German writers that Liebersohn ( The Return of the Gift ) discusses, Karl Bucher stands out as a crucial figure. Like other German economists, Bucher objected to what he saw as abstract British economic theories, which attempted to universalize the historically specific British . . . . Continue Reading »
In a 1993 article in the Intercollegiate Studies Review , Mark Henrie appeals to Alexander Kojeve to argue that “the differences between social democracy and American liberty are not as great as they may at first appear.” Kojeve also, he says, captures something “which has . . . . Continue Reading »
In his lucid introduction to The Market System: What It Is, How It Works, and What to Make of It , Charles Lindblom notes the divergence of the contemporary market system from the ideals of Adam Smith - “a market system tied to a minimal state.” He notes (p. 8), “In our time it is . . . . Continue Reading »
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