Warren J. Samuels

"This collection of previously published and unpublished papers also includes a specially written introduction by Warren Samuels. The book examines some of the fundamental issues in political economy in a non-judgemental and non-ideological way. The political economy is a process of decision making and these papers attempt to identify the deepest levels of conduct of collective choice. These include official and private government, the 'rule of law', the nature of property, rules and markets, deliberative and non-deliberative choice, and the operation of selective perception and of intellectual fraud in politics."--Jacket.

The Economy as a Process of Valuation sheds new light on the potential benefits of concept and theory formation along dynamic and evolutionary lines for understanding economic processes. The emphasis is on aspects of the economy as a process of valuation rather than as a mechanistic result of forces yielding unique determinate results. The book begins by examining instrumentalism and the process of valuation, arguing that to choose involves the process of valuation. It then focuses on Coase's work on institutions and considers the implications for a variety of subjects including the theory of the firm and the theory and policy of externalities - all aspects of the economy as a process of valuation. This is followed by analyses of the concepts of coercion and cost in economics, with special reference to one agent's interest being another agent's cost. Each elicits key aspects of analysis, valuation and the complexities and conflictual nature of valuation processes and structures. Finally, Kenneth Boulding's work on 'The Image' is examined, arguing that definitions of reality and values derive, in part, from language.