This book offers a pluralistic vision of the way economists have dealt with the question of power in society over the last two centuries. Economists' ideas about power are examined from political, theoretical and policy-making points of view, with additional discussion of the active participation of economists in the management of power.

The book is organized into four main conceptions of power relations: i) Power as embedded in political institutions; ii) Power as emerging from the asymmetric relations caused by the unequal distribution of income and wealth; iii) Power as associated to the monopolistic or oligopolistic position held by some firms in the market; and iv) Power as the management of economic policies by the state.

Mosca brings together contributions from a range of scholars to analyse how economists have considered the role of power, putting the discussion into a much needed historical context.

Presents a notable survey of how economists have used the concept of power in their theorising since the mid-19th century Offers a pluralistic vision of economists' ideas about power from theoretical, political, social and policy-making points of view Of interest to wider disciplines including political science, sociology and philosophy

Autorentext

Manuela Mosca is Professor of History of Economic Thought in the Department of Economics, University of Salento, Italy and Visiting Professor at the University of Bologna, Italy. She is a member of the International Advisory Board of the European Journal of the History of Economic Thought and of the Editorial Board of History of Economic Theory and Policy . Her main research interests are the history of the theory of monopoly power and marginalism in Italy.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Part I: The Republic and the Sovereign: Economists on Political Power.- Chapter 2: The Dream to Tame the Leviathan: Authoritarian Power and the Market.- Chapter 3: Sismondi's Political Economy: Translating Power into Sociability.- Chapter 4: The Question of Democracy for the Italian Marginalists.- Part II: The Asymmetries of Power: Income, Wealth and Social Control.- Chapter 5: Elements of a Science of Power: Hobbes, Smith, and Ricardo.- Chapter 6: Power and Poverty: Social Legislation in the years of Adam Smith.- Chapter 7: Debates on Social Insurance in the French Liberal School.- Part III: Market Power and Institutions in Theory and Policy.- Chapter 8: Power Wars Between Institutions: Business Training in Higher Education.- Chapter 9: The Early Oligopolistic Models: Market Power in the Paretian Tradition.- Chapter 10: Dispersion of Power as an Economic Goal of Antitrust Policy.- Part IV: Managing Power: Economists as Policy Makers.- Chapter 11: Jean-Baptiste Say on Political Power.- Chapter 12: Keynes and Eucken on Capitalism and Power.- Chapter 13: Power and Economic Policies: The Case of Italy.