Skills of the economist

PROF. BOULDING'S principal objective in this book is to examine some of the contributions which economics, as a distinct discipline, makes to an under standing of the world in which we live. He approaches this question by way of the skills of the economist, since it is through the employment of special skills, developed in the study of economics, that economists have made their contribution. In his early chapters he enumerates these skills and illustrates and demonstrates them by reference to specific economic theories.
But it is Mr. Boulding's contention that the pursuit of any problem in economics inevitably draws him into some other science-sociology, psy chology, physiology, biology or anthro pology. He is convinced that there is far more unity in knowledge than is generally realised, and he argues that if economics draws something from other sciences, then each of these gains some thing from economics. The remainder of his book is devoted to a survey of the integration of the social sciences and the inter-relation of economics with them.
The Skills of the Economist is intended for the layman. Mr. Boulding combines a well-stocked mind and a specialist's knowledge of his subject with a fine style and a wry humour to make his new work a valuable and lively book.