Understanding capitalism: competition, command, and change

Understanding Capitalism: Competition, Command, and Change, Third Edition, is an introduction to economics that explains how capitalism works, why it sometimes does not work as well as we would like it to, and how over time it not only changes but also revolutionizes the world around us. The "three-dimensional approach" of the text focuses on competition in markets; command in firms, governments, and international relations; and change as a permanent feature of a capitalist economy driven by technical innovation and conflict over the distribution of income. The book covers the standard topics of supply and demand, market competition, imperfect competition, aggregate demand, inflation, and unemployment. It emphasizes the extraordinary dynamism and material productivity of the capitalist economy; the psychological foundations of human behavior; the logic and limitations of Adam Smith's invisible hand; technical change and the new information-based economy; global economic integration and its impact on national economies; the impact of economic activity on the environment; and inequality both within and among nations. In addition, it provides a critical evaluation of the tenets of neoclassical economics, a clear introduction to contract theory, and material drawn from new research in behavioral, institutional, and information economics. --Google Books.

Revised edition of the authors' Understanding capitalism, 2005.

Includes index.

Political economy -- Capitalism shakes the world -- People, preferences, and society -- A three-dimensional approach to economics -- The surplus product: conflict and change -- Capitalism as an economic system -- Government and the economy -- U.S. capitalism: accumulation and change -- Microeconomics -- Supply and demand : how markets work -- Competition and coordination: the invisible hand -- Capitalist production and profits -- Competition and concentration -- Wages and work -- Technology, control, and conflict in the workplace -- Macroeconomics -- The mosaic of inequality -- Progress and poverty on a world scale -- Aggregate demand, employment, and unemployment -- The dilemmas of macroeconomic policy -- Inflation -- Government and the economy -- Government and the economy in transnational capitalism -- List of variables -- Sources of economic information -- Glossary -- Index.