10 - Power and economics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 September 2009
Summary
Economics is about the quality of human lives. That quality is surely affected by the Stuff available to humans. It is just as surely affected by the nature of the relations between persons that arise in the processes of creating and distributing the Stuff. It is relevant to economic inquiry, then, to ask about the character of those relationships surrounding the social institutions known as markets. Economists of all persuasions, rooted in all paradigms, have borne witness to their conflicting faiths over the years. They have been less religious in their devotion to proof. The purpose of this book has been to develop the tools necessary to undertake such an inquiry and to provide some tentative answers. Many different aspects of social interactions have been considered economically. The arguments and conclusions of the preceding chapters are not, however, separable. Together they constitute a vision of human society with implications for the way in which economic theory proceeds, for the content of policy, and for understanding of the world.
The argument as a whole
Modern economic history is a tale of accelerating technological change. Evolving technology also increases the stock of information relevant to market exchange. When that expanding knowledge of complex products, processes, and environments is unevenly owned and unequally interpretable, the old adage that “knowledge is power” takes on a wholly new meaning.
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- Information
- Economics and PowerAn Inquiry into Human Relations and Markets, pp. 193 - 206Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1989