The Economics of the Good Society: The Variety of Economic Arrangements - Tapa blanda

"In the days before textbooks became dominant, prominent economists surveys the field of economics for the benefit of intelligent thinkers and students alike. Berliner has returned to this mode in a masterly survey of the variety of economic systems and their implications for the good society. It is an absorbing effort and an urbane treatment of critical issues." James R. Millar, Director, Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, The George Washington University "In the author's words, this book is 'not for economists but for people generally who like to muse about making a better world.' I truly believe that all people - economists or non-economists, conservatives, liberals, or socialists - who are interested in understanding what went wrong in both the Soviet and capitalist systems, and in exploring possible ways to improve our society, will find this book stimulating and inspiring." Chenggang Xu, London School of Economics "Do you believe the very rich are entitled to their wealth? Who do you think should be assigned to society's dirty jobs? Berliner uses his deep understanding of different economic systems to suggest that there are many answers to such questions. This important book links the advantages and problems of an individual's economic preferences to the values inherent within popular proposals. Anyone interested in economics policy will learn a lot about policies - and perhaps also about himself or herself - from this humane book." Peter Temin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. " " ""In the days before textbooks became dominant, prominent economists surveys the field of economics for the benefit of intelligent thinkers and students alike. Berliner has returned to this mode in a masterly survey of the variety of economic systems and their implications for the good society. It is an absorbing effort and an urbane treatment of critical issues."" James R. Millar, Director, Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, The George Washington University " " ""In the author's words, this book is 'not for economists but for people generally who like to muse about making a better world.' I truly believe that all people - economists or non-economists, conservatives, liberals, or socialists - who are interested in understanding what went wrong in both the Soviet and capitalist systems, and in exploring possible ways to improve our society, will find this book stimulating and inspiring."" Chenggang Xu, London School of Economics ""Do you believe the very rich are entitled to their wealth? Who do you think should be assigned to society's dirty jobs? Berliner uses his deep understanding of different economic systems to suggest that there are many answers to such questions. This important book links the advantages and problems of an individual's economic preferences to the values inherent within popular proposals. Anyone interested in economics policy will learn a lot about policies - and perhaps also about himself or herself - from this humane book."" Peter Temin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. " "In the days before textbooks became dominant, prominent economists surveys the field of economics for the benefit of intelligent thinkers and students alike. Berliner has returned to this mode in a masterly survey of the variety of economic systems and their implications for the good society. It is an absorbing effort and an urbane treatment of critical issues."" James R. Millar, Director, Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, The George Washington University " "In the author's words, this book is 'not for economists but for people generally who like to muse about making a better world.' I truly believe that all people - economists or non-economists, conservatives, liberals, or socialists - who are interested in understanding what went wrong in both the Soviet and capitalist systems, and in exploring possible ways to improve our society, will find this book stimulating and inspiring"." Chenggang Xu, London School of Economics ""Do you believe the very rich are entitled to their wealth? Who do you think should be assigned to society's dirty jobs? Berliner uses his deep understanding of different economic systems to suggest that there are many answers to such questions. This important book links the advantages and problems of an individual's economic preferences to the values inherent within popular proposals. Anyone interested in economics policy will learn a lot about policies - and perhaps also about himself or herself - from this humane book."" Peter Temin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Economics of the Good Society: The Variety of Economic Arrangements examines societal hopes for a better economic system - a Good Society. This book makes it possible, for the first time, to step beyond the theory of the Good Society and study the experience of societies that actually have implemented some of these novel economic arrangements.Standard treatments of comparative analysis consider either countries and their economies or systems like socialism and capitalism. The book differs from other treatments of comparative analysis by focusing on the way societies have applied the two fundamental methods of organizing economic life - administration and prices. In addition, the book explores four sets of arrangements that determine the quality of an economic system: How are consumer goods distributed? How are decisions made about who will hold the available jobs? How are decisions made about which goods should be produced? Who should own the productive property? The book could serve as a supplement in a variety of undergraduate, graduate and MBA courses, including Comparative Economics and Principles of Economics, because it does not require formal training in economic theory. Certain rudiments of economic theory, such as welfare economics, are presented in a manner accessible to the general reader and to those who have no formal training in economic theory.