Synopsis
The Institutional Economy deals with a topic that is of increasing importance in social economics and political economy. It will be of interest to all social scientists concerned to make demand and supply more relevant to the economic conditions of the present day.
Booknews
Defining institutions as rules, routines, patterns, and prescriptions, Reisman (economics, U. of Surrey, UK) argues that institutions place a rigidity on economies that is not acknowledged by and economic discourse that imprisons itself by postulating calculative rationality. Economic interaction inherits much of its constitution. Organizational structures and human values of malevolence and benevolence can trump self-interested supply and demand calculations. Even prudent gain-seeking only takes place in the settled context of people interacting through norms conditioned by the past. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)