Epochs of economic theory

Economists like to think of their discipline as akin to the natural sciences, where progress is seen to be cumulative and from the particular to the general. In this wide-ranging book, Professor Dasgupta traces the development of economic theory and demonstrates that this view is misleading. Economic theories, unlike those of the physical sciences, do not satisfy the universality' criterion; they deal with a universe where events and phenomena change complexion from time to time and from place to place.

Professor Dasgupta traces the development of economic theory through specific 'epochs', marked by particular historical and socio-economic conditions. New questions arise in response to new situations and economic theory adjusts to address these emerging questions. The author examines the character of these questions and the systems of economic theory that have grown up around them, and argues that they should be viewed as independent of each other. Thus, Professor Dasgupta rejects both the concept of revolutions in economic theory and the possibility of anything like a 'general theory'.