The Invisible Hand in Economics

How Economists Explain Unintended Social Consequences
1. Auflage 2009
ISBN: 978-0-415-56954-5
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 272 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 418 g

Reihe: Routledge INEM Advances in Economic Methodology

This is a book about one of the most controversial concepts in economics: the invisible hand. The author explores the unintended social consequences implied by the invisible hand and discusses the mechanisms that bring about these consequences.
The book questions, examines and explicates the strengths and weaknesses of invisible-hand explanations concerning the emergence of institutions and macro-social structures, from a methodological and philosophical perspective. Aydinonat analyses paradigmatic examples of invisible-hand explanations such as Carl Menger’s ‘Origin of Money’ and Thomas Schelling’s famous checkerboard model of residential segregation in relation to contemporary models of emergence of money and segregation. Based on this analysis, he provides a fresh look at the philosophical literature on models and explanation and develops a philosophical framework for interpreting invisible-hand type of explanations in economics and elsewhere. Finally, the author applies this framework to recent game theoretic models of institutions and outlines the way in which they should be evaluated.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Aydinonat, N. Emrah

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Wissenschaften: Theorie, Epistemologie, Methodik
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein Wirtschaftstheorie, Wirtschaftsphilosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Wissenschaftstheorie, Wissenschaftsphilosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein Geschichte der VWL

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction 2. Unintended Consequences 3. The Origin of Money 4. Segregation 5. The Invisible Hand 6. The Origin of Money Reconsidered 7. Models and Representation 8. Game Theory and Conventions. Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

N. Emrah Aydinonat is Lecturer in philosophy of economics and economic growth at Ankara University, Turkey.