The Elgar Companion to Radical Political Economy.

Edward Elgar must have loved reading encyclopedias and reference books as a youth, for as a man he loves publishing handbooks and companions in economics. And, it is fortunate for us that he did and he does, for his love has produced a whole series of valuable reference books and anthologies in economics. He has filled a large void in the field, and he has given heterodox economics fair treatment as well. He has helped keep the profession of independent publisher a noble one. But under current conditions, the cost of his doing so has been high - look at the price of this book! Although it is not Elgar's fault, he is to be praised for his contribution, I fear that the academic scholar is going the way of the industrial worker. We are being alienated from our means of production. We can no longer afford to own the tools of our craft. We can no longer buy the books and journals we should have in our own personal libraries. Increasingly, we are becoming dependent upon our employers for access to the means of production - books and periodicals. The decisions of others - of those above us in the academic hierarchy - now govern our use and access. We no longer subscribe to journals. We no longer buy books. We try to get them at the library. It has changed in just three generations. My mentors owned large personal libraries. My young colleagues do not. Visit around for yourself and see what I mean.

As for the book under review, it is an excellent short encyclopedia of radical political economics. The entries are made up of concepts and ideas. No biographical entries are included because this "Companion" is intended for use along with the Dictionary of Dissenting Economists published by Elgar in 1992. The "Companion" starts out with an introduction defining radical political economy. Then, it contains 103 entries of about four pages each. The entries were written by 105 different contributors from eleven countries and one colony. Over half (57) of the contributors come from the United Kingdom; 23 come from the United States; eight from Italy; four from Canada; three from Australia and Germany; two from Brazil; and one from France, Austria, Denmark, Greece, and Hong Kong. The editors must have gone to considerable lengths to get such an internationally wide range of contributors.

The editors also carefully define radical political economy to include a wide range of dissident schools of thought. Classified by rounding thinker, the editors explicitly mention the Keynesian, Kaleckian, Sraffian, and Veblenian schools as the constituents of radical political economy. And, of course, the Marxian school is implicitly included as well. These schools all share a conscious rejection of neoclassicism and all try to construct alternative theory and methodology. Important elements of their alternatives include recognition of the dynamic and cyclically unstable nature of capitalism, emphasis on class conflict and power play, and incorporation of the economy into the socio-cultural system. Radical political economists also usually recognize the importance of institutions, particularly large enterprises and trade unions. Radical political economists, the editors point out, try to understand economic phenomena in a trans-disciplinary way. So the scope of radical political economy is quite wide. So, too, is the scope of entries in this "Companion." All of the entries cannot be discussed or even listed in a review. Nonetheless, a few entries should be brought to the attention of the institutionalist readers of this journal.

"Cumulative Causation" is described by A. P. Thirlwall in an entry crediting Gunnar Myrdal, Allyn Young, Nicholas Kaldor, and P. J. Verdoorn with making major contributions to this important alternative to equilibrium theory. Alan G. Isaac describes the importance of historical process and path dependence in an entry entitled "Hysteresis." The multinational/transnational corporation is discussed in an entry of that name by Christos N. Pitelis. "Power in Economic Theory" is discussed by Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis. Bob Jessop contributes an entry entitled "Regulation Theory." U. S. institutionalists may find this title misleading because it does not refer to the theory of government regulation of public utilities and such. Rather, it refers to particular institutional matrices that "govern" the accumulation of capital during a particular historical epoch. "Social Policy," meaning the controversies swirling around the contemporary welfare state, is contributed by M. G. Marshall. In two separate entries, Norman Clark and William S. Milberg discuss "Technological Change" and "Technology Gap." "Underconsumption" is explained by Howard J. Sherman. Many other interesting entries are included, the authors of which are here begged forgiveness for my not mentioning their contributions.

The book is indexed and each contribution contains a short bibliography. The book can be read from cover to cover - as the young Edward Elgar would have enjoyed doing. It can also be assigned to students entry by entry. Even experienced scholars could read a number of the entries to refresh themselves or to introduce themselves to new areas of inquiry. Every university and college library should have a copy. I wish that every scholar could have one too.

William M. Dugger The University of Tulsa