The Invisible Hand in Economics: How Economists Explain Unintended Social Consequences (Routledge INEM Advances in Economic Methodology)

N. Emrah Aydinonat

ISBN 10: 041541783X / ISBN 13: 9780415417839

Published by Routledge, 2008

About this Item

Seller Inventory # I-9780415417839

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Invisible Hand in Economics: How Economists Explain Unintended Social Consequences (Routledge INEM Advances in Economic Methodology)
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 041541783X
• ISBN 13: 9780415417839
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

This is a book about one of the most controversial concepts in economics: the invisible hand. The author explores the unintended social consequences implied by the invisible hand and discusses the mechanisms that bring about these consequences.
The book questions, examines and explicates the strengths and weaknesses of invisible-hand explanations concerning the emergence of institutions and macro-social structures, from a methodological and philosophical perspective. Aydinonat analyses paradigmatic examples of invisible-hand explanations such as Carl Menger’s ‘Origin of Money’ and Thomas Schelling’s famous checkerboard model of residential segregation in relation to contemporary models of emergence of money and segregation. Based on this analysis, he provides a fresh look at the philosophical literature on models and explanation and develops a philosophical framework for interpreting invisible-hand type of explanations in economics and elsewhere. Finally, the author applies this framework to recent game theoretic models of institutions and outlines the way in which they should be evaluated.

About the Author

N. Emrah Aydinonat