Book Series: Studies in New Economic Thinking
In partnership with Cambridge University Press
Series Editor: Thomas Ferguson, Institute for New Economic Thinking, New York
The Institute for New Economic Thinking, in collaboration with Cambridge University Press, has a book series edited by INET Director of Research Thomas Ferguson.
The 2008 financial crisis pointed to problems in economic theory that require more than just big data to solve. INET's series in New Economic Thinking exists to ensure that innovative work that advances economics and better integrates it with other social sciences and the study of history and institutions can reach a broad audience in a timely way.
Book
Power and Inequality
A Reformist Perspective
- Author(s): Alessandro Roncaglia
- ISBN: 978-1-00-937052-3
January 2024
Power is a broad and complex concept that cuts across all fields in the humanities and social sciences. Written by a leading historian of economic thought, Power and Inequality presents a wide-ranging and multi-disciplinary analysis of power as an economic and social issue. Its aim is not to formulate a new abstract theory of power but rather to illustrate the different ways in which power is used to exacerbate social and economic inequality. Issues such as division of labour and its evolution, different forms of capitalism up to the money-manager economy, the role of networks (from the family to masonic lodges and the mafia), the state and the international arena, culture and the role of the masses are considered. The analysis of these elements, causing inequalities of various kinds, is a prerequisite for devising progressive policy strategies aiming at a reduction of inequalities through a strategy of reforms.
==> Provides readers with a wide-ranging view of the constraints and possibilities of action for reducing inequalities
==> Introduces the topic step-by-step using ordinary-language explanations and references to real-world issues making the theory accessible to readers without specialized training in economics, sociology or politics
==> Includes inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary perspectives, showing how different disciplines can interact
Reviews & Endorsements
‘Finally! - A book on the economy that makes power the centrepiece of the analysis, recognizing its multiple faces, its relationship to accumulation and distribution, its uses and abuses in policy making and in the quotidian functioning of economies at all levels. This will change how you look at the economy - so it is essential reading for everyone, especially economics teachers and students.’
Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst
‘Economist, historian and political scientist, Alessandro Roncaglia here presents a panorama of power. To paint it, he reaches deep into the history of philosophy and economic thought and of Italian politics and social movements, and presents, in the end, a clear critique of neoliberalism and coherent criteria for progressive reforms.’
James K. Galbraith, The University of Texas at Austin
Other titles in the series
Money and Empire
Charles P. Kindleberger and the Dollar System
By Perry G. Mehrling
Never Together
The Economic History of a Segregated America
By Peter Temin
How Novelty and Narratives Drive the Stock Market
Black Swans, Animal Spirits and Scapegoats
By Nicholas Mangee
Macroeconomic Inequality from Reagan to Trump
Market Power, Wage Repression, Asset Price Inflation, and Industrial Decline
By Lance Taylor