Between capitalism and socialism: essays in political economics

The first section of the book takes us on a tour of the changes within the spectrum of social orders in the contemporary world. Starting with the shifting relation between business and the state within capitalism, the author in turn examines the ambiguities and ambivalences of the acquisitive drive, the furies and frustrations of the development process (and its impact on America), and concludes with a searching critique of the dynamics and contradictions of socialism as an actuality and an ideal of present-day history. In these chapters the subterranean force of technology emerges as the central theme of historic change, before which capitalism and socialism alike are impelled to adapt their institutions. A second group of essays brings the discipline of economics itself to the fore. Here the author deals with technology as it affects the capabilities of economic essence in predicting social change, discusses the contributions and deficiencies of Marxism, and finally asks, "Is Economic Theory Possible?" As the subtitle of the book indicates, he concludes that economics is meaningful only in a political context, to which these essays are a contribution.