Synopses & Reviews
In the 1830s, the "new science of law" aimed to explain the working rules of human society by using the methodologically individual terms of economic discourse. Practitioners were inclined to admit altruistic values, bounded rationality, and institutional inertia into their research programs. This positive analysis of law tended to push normative discussions up from the level of specific laws to society's political organization. Late-twentieth-century institutional economics is currently developing greater resemblances to this now-forgotten new science.
Synopsis
This work analyzes the centrality of law in nineteenth century economics and serves as a prehistory to the new institutional economics of the late twentieth century.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 176-198) and index.
Table of Contents
Introduction; 1. A new science; 2. Towards a normal science; 3. Ghosts in the machine; 4. The normative dimension: institutional success and failure; 5. The way to oblivion; 6. The 'new' new science; Epilogue: the 'new' science; Endnotes; Biographical notes; References.