Theories of surplus and transfer: parasites and producers in economic thought

This sophisticated and wide-ranging analysis of three centuries of economic thought takes as its subject the fundamental, and still largely unresolved, issues of who produces what, and for whom, in a given economic system.
Adam Smith's productive/unproductive labour dichotomy was shown to be inconsistent and incomplete as early as 1802; but as Dr Boss demonstrates, by virtue of its simplicity and handiness as a guide to policy, it has had a pervasive influence on theories of economic growth and welfare written for Western, socialist and underdeveloped countries up to the present day.
Central to the debate is the question of whether the economy generates a 'surplus', defined as a collection of rare and useful goods and services produced in excess of the consumption of producers'. The major socioeconomic systems can be classified according to whether they have surpluses, how these are transferred from producers to non-producers, and indeed according to who is a producer and who is not.

Through deft description and juxtaposition, many logical inconsistencies in historical theories are exposed. Though no formal synthesis is given, the ground is prepared for a new type of political economy which goes beyond 'mode' boundaries to focus more sharply on results, not inputs. The counterpoint Dr Boss maintains between theories of surplus-generation and transfer and theories of interdependence will illuminate general. historical and comparative economics for many years to come.
Readership: historians and philosophers of economic thought and methodology; all students of modern theoretical economics.