Stephen Marglin makes a powerful and convincing argument for how thinking like an economist undermines community. Suddenly, the choices of those who reject global capitalism seem far more reasonable, because the globalization of capital brings with it the economistic thinking that destroys local values, forcing us to choose between material prosperity and spiritual health. Yet this tension is made invisible ... Read moreby a pseudo-universal ideology about human nature. Marglin thus provides a persuasive foundation for the Politics of Meaning. Tikkun 20080301 Marglin's demonstration of the relationship between mainstream economics and the destruction of communities is seductive, convincing, and well documented.
Danny Lang Irish Times 20080324 This is an exceptionally learned, uncompromisingly contrarian critique of markets and economics by a member of the Department of Economics at Harvard University. Stephen Marglin emphasizes the costs of market transactions and blames economics for supplying the associated frame of reference. The Dismal Science is patently the result of a lifetime of reading and cogitating about conceptual issues related to market exchanges and economists' approaches to them. Some historical background is given but what is mainly offered is extended commentary on the history of thought and on everyday practice.
Eric Jones EH.NET Show Less