Is Economics an Evolutionary Science?

The Legacy of Thorstein Veblen

Edited by Francisco Louçã, University of Lisbon, Portugal and the late Mark Perlman, formerly Professor of Economics, Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh, US

Thorstein Veblen has made an immeasurable impact on the development of economics. His legacy has been to challenge orthodox thinking and inspire the institutionalist and evolutionary school of thought. In this book, a distinguished group of contributors analyses the impact, a century later, of Veblen’s 1898 challenge to economics.

‘This interesting and stimulating volume will help to keep the explication of the Veblenian legacy on the agenda. It contains some excellent essays and offers much food for thought.’
– Geoffrey M. Hodgson, Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology

‘. . . there is much in this volume that is informative and on occasion stimulating, especially for those who have limited familiarity with institutional economics and its development . . . the book contains some important essays that may advance the cause of study of institutional economics.’
– Ray Petridis, Journal of the History of Economic Thought

‘This impressive collection demonstrates the vibrant prospects of an evolutionary economics but also its problems. Both the strength and the limitations of Veblen’s original forays are made clear. The strength of the collection resides in its treatments of important specific areas, such as the firm, rationality, the role and limits of knowledge, the diversity of economic institutions, nonlinear relationships, the relation of institutions to technical processes, the nature of an evolutionary economics, and capitalism as a system. Also impressive is the array of contributors, several new to the topic.’
——沃伦·j·塞缪尔s, Michigan State University, US