Classics in the History & Development of Economics
2 total works
Yasuma Takata (1883-1971), nicknamed 'the Japanese Marshall' by Martin Bronfenbrenner, dominated sociology and then economics in Japan over a long period. In sociology he was known through his articles published in German, whilst as economist he remained rather unknown in the West, despite his work along the line connecting Walras, Bohm-Bawerk, Wicksell and Keynes. His scope is so wide as to view Marx critically and accommodate Veblen, Pareto, Schumpeter. Accepting the orthodox economic theory as a first approximation, he tried to introduce institutional factors and power relationships as a second approximation. This volume is edited so as to represent a synthesis of his economics and sociology.
This text examines central questions about the nature of economic theory, its historical development and its explanatory power. What determines economic distribution - can pure economic theory itself explain the fundamentals of distribution or is a broader economics incorporating theories of power in society necessary? This book presents a debate through the classic statements of two leading economists of the 20th century: Joseph A. Schumpeter and Yasuma Takata. An introduction assesses and places in context the work of both Schumpeter and Takata.